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LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 


MRS.    THOMAS  A.    DRISCOLL 


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LOUIS   XVIII 


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ROT  DE   FRANCE 

Ne    a  Versailles 


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LOUIS  XVIII 


By    MARY    F.    SANDARS 

Author  of  " Honore  de  Balzac" 
"Lauzun:  Courtier  and  Adventurer." 


WITH      SEVENTEEN      ILLUSTRATIONS 


# 


New  York : 
JAMES    POTT   AND   COMPANY 


PRINTED    IN   GREAT   BRITAIN 


PREFACE 

MANY  excellent  histories  of  the  Restoration,  con- 
taining full  accounts  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XVIII,  have  been  written.  M.  Ernest  Daudet  gives 
us  the  result  of  long  researches  in  his  exhaustive  work 
on  the  Emigration,  which  treats  of  Louis  XVIII's 
wanderings  over  Europe  ;  and  in  the  numberless  ac- 
counts of  the  French  Revolution  we  come  across  many- 
references  to  the  Comte  de  Provence,  who  is  generally 
treated  in  an  unfriendly  spirit.  This  sketch,  however, 
of  Louis  XVIII's  life  from  cradle  to  grave  is,  I  believe, 
the  first  attempt  in  the  French  or  English  language  to 
link  the  different  periods  of  his  life  together,  and, 
however  faultily,  to  present  the  man  as  a  whole. 

Louis  XVIII  is  personally  an  interesting  figure  ; 
politically  he  is  a  man  to  whom  the  French  nation 
owe  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  introducing  them 
to  the  benefits  of  constitutional  government,  as  well 
as  for  the  firm  and  dignified  stand  against  the  exigencies 
of  the  Allies  in  1815,  by  which  he  saved  the  country 
from  dismemberment.  His  merits  as  a  ruler  have,  I 
think,  been  partially  obscured  by  the  mistakes  he 
undoubtedly  made  when  he  returned  to  France  as  a 
stranger  after  an  exile  of  twenty-two  years,  and  by  the 


vi  Preface 

policy  of  the  last  few  years  of  his  reign,  when  he  was 
dying,  but  was  counted  responsible  for  measures  which 
were  in  reality  the  work  of  Charles  X  and  his  advisers. 
If,  however,  we  look  at  the  period  from  1 8 1 5  to  the 
end  of  1 82 1,  when  Louis  XVIII  was  really  at  the 
helm  of  the  State,  and  when,  putting  aside  the  pre- 
judices of  early  training,  he  fitted  himself  to  the 
requirements  of  a  new  France,  I  think  we  shall  admire 
his  sagacity  and  impartiality,  and  allow  that  he  was  a 
wise  and  beneficent  ruler. 

In  his  private  life  we  find  much  that  is  excellent. 
Undoubtedly  his  love  of  magnificent  ceremony  occasion- 
ally excited  derision  ;  certainly  his  dependence  on 
sentimental  friendships  was  a  misfortune,  not  only 
to  himself  but  to  the  State,  though  much  excuse  for 
it  may  be  found  in  his  isolated  position  in  his  family. 
On  the  other  hand,  his  kingly  dignity,  magnanimity, 
and  serenity  under  misfortune,  his  courage  and  gaiety, 
and  his  power  of  seeing  the  comical  side  of  his  troubles, 
are  truly  admirable  ;  and  it  seems  strange  that  in  an 
age  of  many  biographies  this  sketch  should  be  the  first 
attempt  at  portraying  so  interesting  a  personality. 

I  must  conclude  by  thanking  the  Baron  de  Barante 
and  Colonel  Phipps,  late  R.A.,  for  the  very  kind  help 
they  have  given  me. 

Mary  F.  Sandars. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 


Louis  XVIII's  character — His  birth,  childhood  and  education — The 
Dauphin's  marriage — The  Comte  de  Provence's  marriage — Death  of 
Louis  XV PP-   I-I7 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Comte  de  Provence  as  heir  to  the  throne — Appearance,  literary- 
tastes — Supposed  interview  with  Voltaire — Writings,  political  views, 
forced  inactivity — His  tour  in  France — Relations  with  Marie  An- 
toinette— Accusations  against  him — Jealousies  and  resentments 
— Birth  of  Madame  Royale— Birth  of  the  first  Dauphin— Monsieur 
no  longer  heir-apparent — Birth  of  the  Due  de  Normandie       pp.   18-40 


CHAPTER    III 

Madame  de  Balbi — Her  influence  over  Monsieur,  its  political  effect 
— Public  affairs— The  assembly  of  notables— Monsieur  at  the  head 
of  a  Bureau — Calonne's  fal) — Monsieur  at  the  Cour  des  Comptes — 
His  popularity,  his  speech  to  Necker — The  States-General  pp.   41-53 


CHAPTER    IV 

Mirabeau — Monsieur's  relations  with  him — The  Memoir — Monsieur 
on  the  King — The  Marquis  de  Favras — The  attack  on  Versailles, 
Favras'  doings — L'  Affaire  Favras — Mirabeau's  agitation — Monsieur 
at  the  H6tel-de-Ville — His  defence  of  himself — Favras'  execution — 
Question  of  Monsieur's  complicity  and  moral  responsibility  pp.  54-74 

vii 


viii  Contents 


CHAPTER   V 

Preparations  for  flight — Deputation  to  Monsieur — King  and  Queen's 
lengthy  preparations — Last  meeting  of  the  Royal  Family — Depar- 
ture from  Paris — Events  on  the  journey — Arrival  at  Mons — Meeting 
with  Madame  de  Balbi — Madame's  arrival — News  of  arrest  of  King 
and  Queen — Monsieur's  affection  for  d'Avaray — He  joins  the  Comte 
d'Artois pp.  75-91 


CHAPTER   VI 

Arrival  at  Coblentz — Description  of  town — Schonbornlust — The 
Elector — Monsieur's  position — Coblentz  the  last  stronghold  of  the 
Ancien  Regime — Life  there — Calonne — Society — Madame  de  Balbi 
Queen  of  Coblentz — Quarrels  between  her  and  d'Avaray — Political  in- 
trigues— Monsieur's  levity — Marie  Antoinette  and  the  King — Their 
distrust  of  the  Princes — Their  policy — Dissensions — Distress  at  Cob- 
lentz— Changes  in  Europe — War      .....     pp.  92-112 


CHAPTER  VII 

Campaign  against  France — The  Duke  of  Brunswick — The  Princes 
with  the  Army — Terrible  retreat — Arrival  in  Liege — Distress — Monsieur 
goes  to  Hamm — Hears  of  Louis  XVI's  execution — His  declaration — 
— Tokens  from  imprisoned  Royal  Family — Intrigues  and  expeditions 
— Monsieur  at  Verona — Rupture  with  Madame  de  Balbi — His  letter 
on  the  subject  to  Madame — Death  of  Louis  XVII — Monsieur  assumes 
the  title  of  King — An  Englishman's  opinion  of  him — He  is  forced  to 
leave  Verona — Goes  to  Conde's  camp — His  attempted  assassination — 
Life  at  Blanckenburg       .......  pp.   1 13-132 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Liberation  of  Madame  Royale — Letters  between  her  and  Louis 
XVIII — His  scheme  to  marry  her  to  the  Due  d'Angouleme — Austrian 
opposition — Madame  Royale's  firmness — Her  chaiacter — That  of 
the  Due  d'Angouleme — Louis  XVIII's  alarm  at  his  liberal  views — 
Louis  XVIII  obliged  to  leave  Blanckenburg      .         .         .  pp.   133-149 


Contents  ix 


CHAPTER    IX 

Trials  of  journey  from  Blanckenburg — Arrival  at  Mittau — Character  of 
the  Czar— Life  at  Mittau— Louis  XVIII's  character— Public  affairs 
— King  appeals  to  Bonaparte — The  latter's  reply— The  Revolution 
of  the  1 8th  Brumaire — The  Queen's  arrival — Disagreeables — Madame 
Royale's  arrival — Her  marriage  to  the  Due  d'Angouleme — King's 
reconciliation  to  the  Due  d'Orleans — Difficulties  with  the  Comte 
d'Artois — General  Fersen's  visit— Czar's  brutality — The  King  and 
the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  are  driven  from  Russia  .         .  pp.   150-168 


CHAPTER    X 

Arrival  at  Memel — The  King's  philosophy — Arrival  at  Warsaw — 
Life  there — D'Avaray's  bad  health — First  appearance  of  Blacas — 
King's  anxieties — The  Due  de  Berry — Napoleon's  proposition — Louis 
XVIII's  answer — Napoleon  becomes  Emperor — Louis  XVIII  goes  to 
Sweden — Not  allowed  to  return  to  Warsaw — Second  sojourn  at  Mittau 
— Returns  to  Sweden — Goes  to  England — Difficulties — Gosfield — 
Hartwell — Death    of    the    Queen — D'Avaray  at    Madeira — His  death 

pp.   169-190 


CHAPTER   XI 

Napoleon  at  bay — Louis  XVIII's  liberal  Proclamation — Treaty  of 
Fontainebleau — Affairs  in  France — Talleyrand — Louis  XVIII  sum- 
moned to  reign  over  France — Is  kept  in  England  by  gout — Constitu- 
tion drawn  up  by  Provisional  Government — Monsieur's  hesitation 
to  acknowledge  this — His  entry  into  Paris — The  mischief  he  does — 
Louis  XVIII  leaves  Hartwell — Reception  in  London — Crossing — 
Amiens — Compiegne — Napoleon's  Marshals — Interviews  with  Talley- 
rand, the  Comte  d'Artois,  Alexander  I — The  Corps  Legislatif,  the 
Senate — Declaration  of  Saint-Ouen — Entry  into  Paris— Madame — 
The  Old  Guard pp.   191-214 


CHAPTER   XII 

The  King's  Councils— The  Ministry — The  Charter — The  Treaty  of 
Paris — Ceremony  of  the  Reading  of  the  Charter — Difficulties  and 
mistakes — The  ultra-Royalists — The  Jacobins— The  Imperialists — 
French  society — The  "  Maison  du  Roi  " — The  Army — Discontent 
and  danger — Talleyrand  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna — The  King's 
foreign  policy pp.  215-239 


Contents 


CHAPTER   XIII 

News  of  Napoleon's  landing  arrives  in  France — Preparations  for 
defence — The  Due  d'Orleans — The  King's  attitude — Ney's  defection — 
Blacas — Contradictory  suggestions — Last  efforts  at  rousing  loyalty 
— King's  flight  from  Paris— The  Due  and  Duchesse  d'Angouleme — 
King's  journey  :  Abbeville,  St.-Pol,  Bethune,  Lille — Failure  of  the 
troops  of  the  Maison  du  Roi — Disaffection  of  the  Army — Lyons — 
Ghent — Life  there — The  King's  Ministers — The  King's  attitude — 
Monsieur's  attitude — Attitude  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna — Advice  to 
the  King  from  the  Due  d'Orleans,  from  Talleyrand,  and  from 
Guizot       ..........  pp.  240-263 


CHAPTER    XIV 

Quatre-Bras — Waterloo — Louis  XVIII  leaves  Ghent — Arrival  at 
Mons — Parting  from  Blacas — Talleyrand — Proclamation  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis — Summons  Talleyrand  to  Cambrai — Proclamation  of 
Cambrai — Vitrolles,  Talleyrand,  Fouche — Fouche  made  Chief  Minister 
of  Police — Louis  XVIII's  entry  into  Paris — His  sentiments  on 
Constitutional  Government — New  Cabinet — Decazes — Hardships  in- 
flicted by  Allies — Louis  XVIII's  courage — Ultra-Royalist  Chamber — 
The  Terreur  Blanche— Fouche's  fall — Talleyrand's  fall— The  Due 
de  Richelieu  becomes  head  of  Cabinet — His  character      .  pp.  264  -287 


CHAPTER   XV 

Question  of  dismemberment  of  France — King's  patriotism — His 
letter — -Terms  eventually  granted — Monsieur's  intrigues — King's  affec- 
tion for  Decazes — His  letter  to  him — The  Session  of  1815 — Ney's 
execution — Lavalette's  escape— The  ultra-Royalists — Dissolution  of 
the  "  Chambre  Introuvable  "■ — Marriage  of  the  Due  de  Berry — Chateau- 
briand's pamphlet — The  Elections — Blacas'  sudden  appearance  in 
Paris — King's  firmness — Painful  family  scenes — Vitrolles'  Secret 
Note — Conspiracy  "  du  bord  de  l'eau  " — Monsieur's  disgrace — Congress 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle pp.  288-312 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Divisions  between  Richelieu  and  Decazes — Louis  XVIII's  view  of 
the  situation — Ultra-Royalist  tactics — Question  of  retirement  of 
Decazes — Richelieu  resigns — Formation  of  the  Cabinet  Dessoles- 
Decazes — Difficulties — The  King's  sentiments — His  family  difficulties 


Contents  xi 

— His  kindness  to  Madame  Decazes — The  "  Loi  Barthelemy  " — 
Triumph  of  the  ultras — Creation  of  new  peers — Cabinet  harassed  by 
ultra-liberals — Gregoire's  election — Decazes  proposes  alteration  in 
election  laws — Assassination  of  the  Due  de  Berry — Fury  of  the  ultra- 
Royalists  against  Decazes— The  Royal  Family  implore  the  King  to 
dismiss  him— Retirement  of  Decazes — Richelieu  becomes  head  of  the 
Cabinet — The  King's  grief — Disappointment  of  the  Due  de 
Castries     ..........  pp.  313-338 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Ultra-Royalist  intrigue  to  influence  the  King  through  Madame  du 
Cayla — La  Rochefoucauld's  share  in  it — The  King's  growing  affec- 
tion for  Madame  du  Cayla — The  Session  of  1820 — Violent  dissensions 
— The  birth  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux— Tumults  in  the  Chamber — 
Royalist  triumph  at  the  elections — Disturbances  throughout  Europe 
— Duplicity  of  the  Duchesse  de  Berry — Decazes  visits  Paris — King's 
growing  infirmities — His  drowsiness  and  indifference — Napoleon's 
death — Monsieur  harries  the  Ministry — The  extreme  Right  and  ex- 
treme Left  unite  to  wreck  the  Cabinet — Richelieu's  indignation  with 
Monsieur — His  resignation  and  death — Madame  du  Cayla' s  share 
in  forming  new  Cabinet  —  King's  virtual  abdication  to  Mon- 
sieur    pp.   339-359 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

The  Villele  Ministry — Infringements  of  the  Charter — Spanish 
expedition — Chateaubriand — La  Rochefoucauld — Madame  du  Cayla — 
Louis  XVIII  presents  her  with  Chateau  at  Saint-Ouen — Entertain- 
ment there — King's  precarious  condition — His  determined  courage — 
Madame  du  Cayla  persuades  him  to  see  a  priest — Decazes'  grief — 
Death  of  Louis  XVIII     .......     pp.   360-374 

INDEX pp.  375-384 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

LOUIS  XVIII Photogravure  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

COMTE   DE   PROVENCE   (AFTERWARDS   LOUIS  XVIIl)             .           .  1 8 

COMTE   DE   MIRABEAU 54 

MARQUIS   DE   FAVRAS 60 

MADAME  ELIZABETH 8o 

LOUIS  ANTOINE   D'ARTOIS  (DUC   D'ANGOULEME)        ....  96 

MADAME   ROY  ALE   (DUCHESSE   D'ANGOULEME)              .           .           .           .  140 

PAUL   I 150 

COMTESSE   DE   PROVENCE   (QUEEN   OF   FRANCE)          .           .           .  1 58 

TALLEYRAND I94 

ALEXANDER   I 208 

JOSEPH   FOUCHE,   DUC   D'OTRANTE 258 

DUC   DE   BERRY 272 

COMTE   DECAZES 294 

DUC   DE   RICHELIEU 308 

DEATH   OF  THE  DUC   DE   BERRY 332 

THE  COMTE  D'ARTOIS  AS  CHARLES   X 358 

xiii 


LOUIS    XVIII 


CHAPTER   I 

Louis  XVIII's  character — His  birth,  childhood  and  education — The 
Dauphin's  marriage — The  Comte  de  Provence's  marriage — Death 
of  Louis  XV. 

LOUIS  XVIII  is  a  man  to  whom  I  think  justice  has 
not  generally  been  done,  particularly  during  the 
earlier  part  of  his  life.  Monstrous  calumny  is  strikingly 
characteristic  of  the  seething  ante-revolutionary  time, 
calumny  which,  shouted  with  hysterical  extravagance 
when  the  Revolution  was  unloosed,  led  to  its  worst 
excesses.  Society  was  depraved  ;  but  every  one  was 
not  smirched  with  the  sooty  blackness  imagined  by  the 
foul  fancies  of  the  populace,  sated  with  unsavoury 
stories  of  the  Pompadour,  the  Dubarry,  and  the  Parc- 
aux-Cerfs. 

After  the  expiration  of  a  few  months  as  popular 
favourite,  a  position  which  only  served  to  injure  him 
with  the  Court  party,  the  future  Louis  XVIII — then 
known  as  Monsieur,  or  as  the  Comte  de  Provence — 
was  lampooned  and  calumniated  more  violently  than 
any  one,  except  perhaps  the  unfortunate  Queen.  The 
reasons  for  the  storm  of  hatred  he  aroused  are  obvious. 
Though  every  one  affected  to  consider  him  a  mere 
figurehead,  in  the  later  days  of  the  Revolution   he  was 

i 


2  Louis  XVIII 

the  principal  menace  to  democracy,  it  being  really  for 
his  cause,  though  not  in  his  name,  that  the  States  of 
Europe,  who  flouted,  insulted,  and  humiliated  him, 
assembled  their  armies  to  attack  infuriated  and  terrified 
France.  In  Napoleon's  days,  Louis  XVIII  was  com- 
pletely forgotten  by  the  majority  of  his  countrymen, 
and  had  become  a  homeless  wanderer,  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  summarily  ejected  from  an  apparently 
friendly  State  at  a  word  from  the  all-powerful  con- 
queror, but  he  was  still  the  representative  of  the  old 
order  in  France  ;  and  the  libels  burst  out  again  with  the 
utmost  virulence  when  in  the  wake  of  foreign  armies 
he  returned  to  his  native  land.  France  was  tired  of 
battling  ;  but  when  for  the  heroic  figure  of  Napoleon 
was  substituted  an  unwieldly  old  man  with  theatrical 
manners,  it  was  difficult  for  any  one  to  furbish  up 
fitting  enthusiasm.  Even  the  Royalists,  who  during 
his  exile  in  Russia  had  christened  him  "  the  greatest 
Jacobin  in  Europe,"  were  not  attached  to  him — he  was 
at  best  a  compromise  ;  and  compromises  do  not  inspire 
devotion. 

Returning  to  France  a  stranger,  after  an  exile  of 
twenty-three  years,  and  finding  himself  among  almost 
unparalleled  political  difficulties,  he  began  by  making 
mistakes  owing  to  his  ignorance  of  the  general  trend 
of  feeling  and  opinion.  Indeed,  he  may  possibly  have 
owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Napoleon  and  the  Hundred 
Days  incursion,  which  proved  to  him  that  he  had  com- 
pletely misapprehended  the  spirit  of  the  country  over 
which  he  had  come  to  reign,  and  that  the  folly  of  the 
Ultra- Royalists  was  landing  him  at  the  edge  of  a 
precipice. 

When  once  he  had  learnt  his  lesson,  however,  his 
sagacity  was  unfailing,  and   his  magnanimity,  tact,  and 


His  Character  3 

forbearance  remarkable ;  indeed,  it  is  hardly  too  much 
to  say  that  France  owes  her  present  position  as  one  of 
the  Great  Powers,  to  his  firmness  and  eloquence  at  the 
time  when  her  so-called  allies  gathered  round  eager  to 
dismember,  and  thus  to  cripple  permanently,  the 
country  which  had  caused  them  infinite  trouble, 
expense,  and  loss  of  life.  Had  Louis  XVIII  outlived 
his  brother  and  been  followed  by  the  nephew  whom 
he  had  instructed  in  state-craft,  it  is  possible  that  the 
Bourbons  might  never  have  lost  the  throne  of  France. 

His  biography  is,  I  consider,  a  tragedy,  although  in 
the  end  he  attained  his  ambition  and  became  King  of 
France.  It  is  undoubtedly  a  tragedy  to  be  born  a 
century  too  late,  educated  in  articles  of  faith  which 
are  an  anachronism,  hedged  round  by  barriers  which 
suddenly  break  down  and  admit  a  thousand  strange 
sights,  sounds,  and  ideas — an  entirely  new  world — to 
the  bewildered  senses. 

It  is  a  tragedy,  too,  for  a  man  to  be  endowed  with 
strong  family  affection,  with  an  intelligence  which  far 
transcends  his  will  power,  and  when  old,  and  enfeebled 
by  a  life  of  disappointment,  humiliation,  and  long- 
deferred  hope,  to  be  the  only  person  among  his 
surroundings  who  has  learnt  anything  from  the  march 
of  events,  so  that  he  is  continually  in  mental  opposition 
to  those  who  are  dear  to  him,  watches  with  ever- 
weakening  powers  the  baffling  of  the  measures  dictated 
by  his  own  sagacity,  and  foresees  with  bitter  sorrow  the 
calamities  which  must  fall  on  his  House  when  he  has 
been  removed  by  death  from  the  direction  of  affairs. 

Louis-Xavier  Stanislas,  Comte  de  Provence,  the 
future  Louis  XVIII,  first  saw  the  light  at  Versailles 
on  November   17,   1755. 


4  Louis  XVIII 

At  the  time  of  his  birth  it  seemed  extremely  unlikely 
that  he  would  ever  inherit  the  crown  of  France,  for 
his  grandfather  Louis  XV  was  a  comparatively  young 
man,  his  father  the  Dauphin,  the  King's  only  son, 
was  still  living,  and  two  little  brothers,  the  Dukes 
of  Bourgoyne  and  of  Berry,  had  come  into  the  world 
before  him. 

Nevertheless,  the  appearance  of  another  prince  in 
the  direct  line  to  the  throne  was  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  the  ceremonies  usual  on 
such  an  occasion  were  duly  observed.  The  King 
was  at  his  daughter-in-law's  bedside  for  over  an 
hour  before  the  birth  took  place,  and  a  page  was 
despatched  to  Paris  to  inform  the  Governor  of  the 
Dauphine's  impending  accouchement.  The  Governor 
at  once  hurried  to  Versailles,  sending  another  page  to 
carry  the  news  to  the  H6tel-de-Ville.  There  the 
Council  assembled  and  remained  till  they  heard  of 
the  birth,  which  they  did  in  three  ways — first  by  an 
officer  sent  from  the  Governor,  secondly  by  an  officer 
sent  from  the  King,  and  lastly  by  the  Master  of 
Ceremonies,  whose  duty  it  was  to  enter  the  birth  in 
the  registers  of  the  H6tel-de-Ville.  Presents  were 
given  by  the  town  of  Paris  to  the  bearers  of  the  happy 
tidings,  including  a  sum  of  money  and  a  snuff-box  to 
the  officer  of  the  Guards,  the  former  varying  in  amount 
and  the  latter  in  value  according  to  the  importance  of 
the  newly  born  infant.  The  birth  of  a  princess  was 
disappointing — except  perhaps  to  the  good  town  of  Paris, 
which  had  to  defray  the  expenses— as  the  messenger 
then  received  nothing,  unless  the  girl  happened  to  be 
the  eldest  of  the  family. 

Meanwhile  the  Governor  was  shown  the  infant  by 
the    "  Gouvernante  "    in    the    large    hall   of  Versailles, 


Ceremonies  at  his  Birth  5 

asked,  as  ceremonial  enjoined,  whose  the  child  was  that 
had  been  born  to  Madame  la  Dauphine,  and  received 
the  prescribed  answer,  the  Dauphin  was  officially  in- 
formed of  the  event,  and  a  messenger  went  to  his 
apartments  on  the  part  of  the  King  to  register  the 
birth  of  the  little  Prince.  Later  in  the  day  fireworks 
were  displayed  in  the  Place  d'Armes,  and  a  Te  Deum 
was  performed  at  the  King's  Mass. 

The  grand  ceremonies  were,  however,  deferred  till 
Sunday,  when  a  Te  Deum  was  performed  at  Notre- 
Dame,  a  fire  was  lit  in  the  Place  de  la  Greve,  and  the 
Governor  marched  through  Paris  surrounded  by  his 
Guards  and  threw  money  to  the  people.  Before  the 
statue  of  Henri  IV  on  the  Pont  Neuf  etiquette  obliged 
him  to  distribute  gold  pieces  ;  in  fact  these  expeditions 
generally  cost  him  about  a  thousand  crowns,  and 
M.  de  Gesvres  cannot  be  blamed  if  he  occasionally 
discovered  some  pretext  for  evading  the  costly  and 
unpleasant  duty.  Afterwards  fetes  were  held  at  the 
H6tel-de-Ville  and  at  the  Governor's  house,  at  which 
every  one  was  given  cold  meat  and  wine,  while  dancing 
went  on  till  late  at  night.  The  cost  of  the  entertain- 
ment at  the  Governor's  house  had  been  defrayed  by  the 
Governor  till  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  before  the  birth  of 
the  Comte  de  Provence,  when  M.  de  Maurepas  repre- 
sented to  the  King  that  it  was  not  fair  that  these 
expenses  should  be  charged  to  M.  le  due  de  Gesvres, 
and  the  King,  deferring  to  his  courtly  adviser,  decreed 
that  the  town  of  Paris  should  provide  all  the  refresh- 
ments, and  should  send  whatever  was  required  to  the 
Governor's  house. 

The  King's  "  good  town  of  Paris  "  was  a  convenient 
beast  of  burden,  and  no  one  at  Versailles  heeded 
whether   the  burdens  so   lightheartedly  imposed  were 


6  Louis  XVIII 

crushing  the  life  out  of  her,  or  stopped  to  ask  them- 
selves what  would  happen  with  the  great  mass  of  units 
who — insignificant  as  they  were — merely  bourgoisie, 
peasants,  shopkeepers,  made  up  the  bulk  of  the 
people  in  the  great  kingdom  of  France,  when  the 
Revolution  came.  For,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  even 
from  the  Court  point  of  view,  the  Revolution  was  on 
its  way.  The  King,  stricken  with  a  deadly  ennui  which 
had  its  birth  in  dissipation  and  in  the  long-borne 
loneliness  of  the  throne,  heard  the  beating  of  its 
wings,  and  was  only  too  conscious  of  the  darkness 
which  heralded  its  advent.  "  Things  as  they  are  will 
last  as  long  as  I  do,"  he  said  wearily.  Meanwhile, 
interminable  wars,  abuses  of  every  sort  in  the  Govern- 
ment, pensions,  sinecures,  and  shameless  extravagance 
at  Court,  had  reduced  the  finances  of  the  kingdom  to 
such  a  terrible  condition  that  it  seemed  doubtful 
whether  Louis  XV  would  not  live  to  reign  over  a 
bankrupt  kingdom.  Hence,  continual  disputes  between 
the  King  and  local  "  parlements "  who  refused  to 
register  the  edicts  imposing  fresh  taxation.  Hence, 
too,  incidentally,  rumours  from  time  to  time  at  Court 
of  famines  and  risings  in  the  provinces,  the  gradual 
change  of  the  affection  felt  for  Louis  Le  Bien  Aime 
to  dislike,  and  later,  when  the  Pompadour  had  given 
way  to  the  disreputable  du  Barry,  to  execration. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  impending  bankruptcy,  there 
was  still  magnificence  at  Court,  in  spite  of  the  gradual 
mining  of  the  old  social  system,  of  which  the  King  was 
centre,  the  same  etiquette,  the  same  forms,  the  same 
outward  worship  of  Royalty  surrounded  the  throne. 
It  was  only  after  the  crash  that  the  enlightened  observer 
could  lay  his  hand  on  the  fabric,  and,  shaking  his  head 
wisely,  remark  that  with  this  and  that  channel  of  decay 


His  Childhood  7 

eating  into   the   structure,  it  was  marvellous  that  the 
catastrophe  had  not  taken  place  sooner. 

Early  impressions  are  ineffaceable  ;  and  in  judging 
the  future  outlook  and  conduct  of  the  Comte  de 
Provence,  we  must  realise  the  kind  of  world  on  which 
he  looked  with  the  unquestioning  eyes  of  childhood. 
Etiquette  was  the  only  important  thing  in  life,  and  the 
family  to  which  he  belonged  was  a  race  of  semi-deities 
increasing  in  importance  as  they  neared  the  throne, 
where  sat  the  supreme  deity  of  all.  Round  about 
them,  to  minister  to  their  greatness,  were  the  nobility  ; 
and  of  the  great  struggling  world  outside  the  child 
knew  nothing. 

The  first  mention  of  the  public  appearance  of  M.  de 
Provence  was  on  June  10,  1756,  when  at  seven  months 
old  he,  with  his  two  elder  brothers,  gave  audience  to 
three  newly  made  cardinals  in  succession  ;  each  accom- 
panied by  his  introducer,  under-introducer,  and  the 
Master  of  the  Ceremonies.  The  Due  de  Luynes  gives 
an  account  of  this  event.  After  describing  the  drive 
to  Meudon,  the  dress  of  the  cardinals — one  of  whom 
was  his  brother — and  the  ceremonial  observed  before 
they  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  room  occupied  by  M.  le 
due  de  Bourgoyne,  he  says  :  "  Three  armchairs  were 
in  the  further  end  of  the  room  opposite  the  door  ; 
Monseigneur  le  due  de  Bourgoyne  was  in  the  middle, 
Monseigneur  le  due  de  Berry  to  the  right,  and  Mon- 
seigneur le  Comte  de  Provence  to  the  left.  Madame  de 
Marsan  (the  Gouvernante)  went  out  of  the  room,  bowed 
to  and  kissed  the  Cardinal,  and  after  a  few  polite  words 
re-entered  the  room  in  front  of  him,  and  made  three 
curtseys  at  the  same  time  with  him,  standing  to  his 
right.  A  folding  chair  was  brought  forward.  Mon- 
seigneur le  due  de  Bourgoyne  was  standing  and  had  his 


8  Louis  XVIII 

cap  on  his  head,  but  it  had  been  arranged  that  being 
covered  or  uncovered  was  to  signify  nothing.  The 
Cardinal,  standing  up,  addressed  Monseigneur  le  due  de 
Bourgoyne,  speaking  to  him  alone.  The  speech  was 
very  short.  Monseigneur  le  due  de  Bourgoyne  (who 
was  five  years  old)  answered  shortly  and  very  well  ; 
then  he  sat  down,  and  the  Cardinal  sat  on  the  folding 
chair  opposite  him.  This  ceremony  only  lasted  a 
minute  ;  the  Cardinal  retired  with  the  three  ordinary 
reverences,  and  was  again  conducted  to  the  door 
by  Madame  de  Marsan." 1  The  incident  is  only 
mentioned  by  the  Due  de  Luynes  because  there  was 
some  difficulty  about  the  ceremonial  of  the  presenta- 
tion, and  it  was  necessary  to  hunt  up  examples  of  the 
procedure  on  similar  occasions  before  the  matter  could 
be  satisfactorily  settled  !  Therefore  we  may  suppose 
that  audiences  were  no  uncommon  occurrence  in  the 
life  of  the  little  Comte  de  Provence,  may  safely  divine, 
too,  that  they  were  welcome  to  the  Gouvernante,  Madame 
de  Marsan,  but  were  regarded  by  her  charges  as  tire- 
some interruptions  to  nursery  routine.  The  whole 
Royal  Family  were  devoted  to  their  "  gouvernante,"  to 
whose  careful  moral  teaching  they  owed  the  unity  and 
affection  which  in  quite  early  life  were  strikingly 
characteristic  of  them.  They  called  her  their  second 
mother,  and  were  deeply  grateful  for  the  care  she  had 
lavished  on  them,  the  Comte  de  Provence's  numerous 
letters  to  her  being  always  written  to  "  my  little  dear 
little  friend."  2 

Sometimes  etiquette  seemed  likely  to  have  sinister 
consequences,  for  the  Comte  de  Provence  was  a  delicate 
baby,  and  when  his  nurse  proved  unsatisfactory,  and  it 

1  Memoires  dti  Due  de  Luynes,  June  10,  1756. 

7  See  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  r£migrationy  vol.  iii.  p.  58. 


His  Baptism  9 

seemed  likely  that  he  would  share  the  fate  of  most  of 
the  royal  infants  of  that  time  and  never  live  to  attain 
man's  estate,  no  suitable  nurse  could  be  found  in  Paris, 
and  considerable  delay  was  caused  while  one  was  pro- 
cured from  Normandy.  "  The  child  of  an  ordinary 
person  would  not  find  so  many  difficulties  in  procuring 
a  wet  nurse,"  *  our  chronicler  remarks  sagely. 

The  baptism  of  the  Comte  de  Provence  took  place 
on  October  18,  t  76 1,  when  he  was  six  years  old.  The 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Narbonne,  the  godfathers  being  the  King  of  Poland 
and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  the  latter  being  represented 
by  the  Prince  of  Conti,  while  Madame  Victoire,  one  of 
Louis  XV's  unmarried  daughters,  was  godmother.  He 
was  named  Louis-Stanislas  Xavier.  His  elder  brother, 
the  future  Louis  XVI,  was  baptised  the  same  day. 

The  Comte  de  Provence  and  his  younger  brother, 
the  Comte  d' Artois  —  afterwards  Charles  X  —  were 
inseparable  companions  during  their  childhood,  and 
though  through  the  stress  and  strain  to  follow,  when 
life,  or  all  that  makes  life  worth  living,  was  often  at 
stake,  there  were  frequent  dissensions  between  the  two, 
the  future  Louis  XVIII — who  was  occasionally  credited 
with  a  want  of  feeling — seems  always  to  have  felt  a 
certain  affection  for  the  gay,  debonair  younger  brother, 
whose  outward  grace  and  brilliancy  covered,  unfortu- 
nately, an  obstinately  prejudiced  mind  which  adversity 
could  not  teach. 

Certainly  the  Comte  d'Artois  must  have  been  a  most 
engaging  boy,  one  of  many  examples  of  the  fact  that 
childish  precocity  does  not  always  fulfil  its  promise. 
Gay  and  lively,  his  power  of  repartee,  which  he  seems 
usually  to  have  exercised  on  his  elder  brother  the  Due 

1  Luynes'  Memoires,  Feb.  5,  1756. 


io  Louis  XVIII 

de  Berry,  made  him  the  amusement  of  the  Court,  who 
were  never  tired  of  laughing  at  his  last  childish  joke, 
and  he  even  dared  to  take  liberties  with  his  formidable 
and  august  grandfather.  The  Comte  de  Provence  was 
not  so  brilliant,  though  he  began  early  to  exercise  that 
diplomacy  which  was  to  characterise  him  during  his 
adult  life.  "  M.  le  Comte  de  Provence,"  says  the 
Marquis  de  Valvons,  "  wishes  to  please,  and  succeeds 
very  well  ;  seeing  me  one  day  at  his  riding  lesson,  he 
asked  me  whether  I  rode  well.  ' Pretty  well  for  a 
soldier,'  I  answered. 

"  '  Oh,  I  know  that,  and  M.  de  Lavauguyon  has  told 
me  that  you  attack  the  enemy  very  well.'  "  x 

The  Royal  Family  was  tolerably  numerous  during  the 
first  few  years  of  the  Comte  de  Provence's  life.  At  the 
head  of  it  was  his  grandfather,  Louis  XV,  obsessed  with 
the  worship  of  the  Pompadour,  who  dismissed  his  minis- 
ters, and  sent  incapable  generals  to  command  his  armies 
at  her  good  pleasure.  The  Queen,  Marie  Leczinska,  was 
a  nonentity,  being  so  much  occupied  by  card-playing, 
the  one  amusement  of  her  dreary  life,  that  she  had  not 
sufficient  energy  left  even  to  perform  a  mother's  part 
to  her  six  daughters.  Of  these  daughters,  the  only 
ones  important  to  our  purpose  are  Mesdames  Adelaide, 
Victoire,  and  Louise,  who  undoubtedly  exercised  much 
influence  over  the  Comte  de  Provence  during  his  early 
manhood.  He  was  the  special  darling  of  his  godmother, 
Madame  Victoire.  The  clever,  energetic  Madame 
Adelaide,  on  the  other  hand,  did  her  best  to  act  a 
mother's  part  to  the  poor  little  Due  de  Berry — after- 
wards Louis  XVI  —  whose  brothers  were  greater 
favourites  than  he  in  Court  circles.  "  Whom  can  I 
love  here,  when  nobody  loves  me  ? '  he  asked  sadly 
1  Souvenirs  de  Louis  XVIII,  Lamothe-Langon. 


Deaths  and  Changes  n 

one  day.  He  was  a  timid  child,  and  his  lively  aunt 
would  do  her  best  to  encourage  him.  She  would  take 
him  into  her  room  and  say  :  "  Come,  my  poor  Berry, 
you  are  here  at  full  liberty,  you  have  elbow  room  ;  talk, 
shout,  make  a  great  deal  of  noise,  break,  smash  every- 
thing. I  give  you  'carte  blanche.''"1  However,  in 
1 761,  "poor  Berry"  became  a  person  of  considerable 
importance,  as  the  death  of  his  elder  brother  left  him 
in  the  direct  line  to  the  throne. 

In  1764,  three  years  after  the  death  of  the  young 
Due  de  Bourgoyne,  Madame  de  Pompadour  ended  her 
brilliant,  unhappy  life,  and  France  rejoiced  at  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  detested  favourite.  Death  was  active 
at  the  Court  about  that  time,  for  on  December  20, 
1765,  the  Comte  de  Provence  and  his  brothers  lost 
their  father,  the  Dauphin.  A  little  later  they  were 
completely  orphaned,  for  in  March  1766  their  mother, 
Marie  Josephine  de  Saxe,  followed  her  husband  to  his 
grave.  She  was  his  second  wife,  married  to  him  in 
February  1747,  and  the  first  years  of  her  wedded  life 
had  been  saddened  by  his  indifference  to  her,  and  by 
the  knowledge  that  he  had  married  her  against  his  will, 
and  still  mourned  his  first  wife.  However,  in  time  he 
became  tenderly  attached  to  Marie  Josephine,  and  grief 
at  losing  him  apparently  hastened  her  death. 

"  Poor  France  !  with  a  King  of  fifty-five  and  a 
Dauphin  of  eleven  !  "  is  Louis  XV's  reported  ex- 
clamation when  he  heard  of  the  death  of  his  only  son  ; 
and  several  times,  as  though  oppressed  with  gloomy 
prognostications,  he  repeated  the  words  "  Poor  France  ! 
poor  France  !  " 

Marie   Leczinska,    Queen   of  France,  breathed   her 

1  Todtere,  Louis  XVI,  Marie  Antoinette,  et  le  Comte  de  Provence  en 
face  de  la  Revolution , 


i2  Louis  XVIII 

last  on  June  24,  1768,  and  only  a  month  later  a  howl 
of  execration  greeted  the  installation  of  the  low-born 
and  disreputable  Madame  du  Barry  in  the  place  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour. 

Meanwhile,  the  care  of  the  three  Princes  had  been 
entrusted  to  the  Due  de  la  Vauguyon,  who  was  ap- 
parently not  a  very  conscientious  Governor.  On  the 
day  of  his  death,  after  Louis  XVI  had  ascended  the 
throne,  some  one  rushed  in  tears  to  tell  Marie  Antoinette 
of  Vauguyon's  acts  of  piety  and  repentance,  and  related 
that  he  had  called  all  his  people  together  to  ask  their 
pardon.  "  For  what  ? '  replied  the  Queen  sharply  ; 
"  he  has  placed  and  pensioned  off  all  his  servants  ; 
it  was  of  the  King  and  his  brothers  that  the  holy  man 
you  bewail  should  have  asked  pardon,  for  having  paid 
so  little  attention  to  the  education  of  Princes  on  whom 
the  fate  and  happiness  of  twenty-five  millions  of  men 
depend.  Luckily,"  added  she,  "  although  they  are  still 
young,  the  King  and  his  brothers  have  incessantly 
laboured  to  repair  the  errors  of  their  preceptor."  * 

Besides  their  Governor,  the  boys  had  tutors  and 
undertutors.  The  head  tutor,  M.  Coetlosquet,  formerly 
Bishop  of  Limoges,  was  a  sleepy,  good-natured  person, 
much  more  occupied  with  his  breviary  and  with 
thoughts  of  future  preferment,  than  with  the  duty  of 
educating  the  three  boys  entrusted  to  his  care.  In  fact, 
after  the  death  of  the  Dauphin,  who  had  insisted  on  a 
certain  amount  of  discipline  and  of  religious  teaching, 
the  Princes  did  exactly  what  they  pleased. 

This,  in  the  case  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  meant  that 
he  refused  to  work  at  all,  and  no  encouragement  was 
given  to  the  Comte  de  Provence,  who  was  really 
anxious  to  learn.      Great  advantages  were  to  be  reaped 

1  Madame  Campan's  Memoires,  1823  trans.,  vol,  i.  p.  119. 


Marie  Antoinette  becomes  Dauphine         13 

from  a  Prince's  ignorance  ;  no  one  wished  him  to  know 
and  judge  matters  for  himself.  Therefore  the  Comte 
de  Provence,  who  was  determined  to  educate  himself, 
lost  at  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  the  popularity  he 
had  enjoyed  in  his  childhood,  and  was  looked  on  with 
general  disfavour.  He  was  ambitious,  he  laughed  at 
his  elder  brother  ;  his  only  reason  for  wishing  to  study 
was  his  anxiety  to  fit  himself  for  the  throne. 

When  the  Comte  de  Provence  was  fifteen  years  old, 
an  event  took  place  which  was  to  exercise  an  enormous 
influence  on  his  fortunes.  In  the  endeavour  to  assure 
the  permanence  of  the  alliance  between  France  and 
Austria  concluded  in  Madame  de  Pompadour's  time, 
Louis  XV's  Minister  Choiseul  determined  to  bring 
about  a  marriage  between  the  Dauphin  and  an  Austrian 
Princess.  As  a  result  of  his  negotiations,  Marie 
Antoinette,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  was  married  to 
Louis  Auguste,  the  future  Louis  XVI,  in  the  chapel  of 
Versailles  on  May  10,  1770.  The  fetes  after  the 
wedding  were  magnificent,  and  in  spite  of  the  many 
enemies  already  lurking  around  her,  every  one  at  Court 
vied  with  each  other  in  flattering  and  spoiling  the 
fifteen-year-old  Dauphine.  The  only  cloud  dimming 
the  dazzling  brightness  of  the  young  Princess's  horizon, 
was  her  intense  repugnance  to  acknowledging  Madame 
du  Barry's  position  as  virtual  Queen  of  the  Court. 
The  low-born  adventuress  was  forced  on  her  by  the 
infatuated  King  on  every  possible  occasion,  and  in  spite 
of  Marie  Therese's  constant  admonitions,  the  proud 
young  Princess  found  it  almost  impossible  to  be  civil 
to  her. 

Another  unperceived  cause  of  future  danger  was  the 
fact  that  the  Comte  de  Provence,  perhaps  influenced  by 
his  Governor,  who  as  a  creature  of  the  Du  Barry's  was 


i4  Louis  XVIII 

hostile  to  Choiseul,  objected  to  an  alliance  with  Austria, 
the  hereditary  enemy  of  France,  and  though  outwardly 
cordial  was  not  prepared  to  like  his  sister-in-law. 

Madame  du  Barry,  for  her  part,  resented  the  con- 
tempt with  which  she  was  treated  by  the  Dauphine, 
and  when  it  was  the  turn  of  the  Comte  de  Provence  to 
be  provided  with  a  wife,  she  determined  that  the  future 
Comtesse  de  Provence  should,  if  possible,  be  closely 
attached  to  her  triumphant  chariot. 

The  Comte  de  Provence  was  not  consulted  about  his 
own  marriage.  The  bride  chosen  for  him  was  Josephine 
Louise  of  Savoy,  who,  if  it  had  not  been  for  Choiseul's 
efforts  to  bring  about  the  Austrian  alliance,  would  most 
probably  have  become  Dauphine. 

Many  intrigues  were  on  foot  before  the  future 
Comtesse  de  Provence  arrived  at  the  Court,  and 
Madame  du  Barry  drew  up  with  the  utmost  care  a 
list  of  the  people  who  were  to  become  members  of  the 
Princess's  household,  and  who  were  selected  among  the 
partisans  of  the  Royal  Favourite.  The  chief  lady  of 
the  bedchamber  was  Madame  de  Valentinois,  one  of 
Madame  du  Barry's  first  friends  at  Court,  and  the 
Comte  de  Modene,  sworn  ally  of  the  Due  de  Vauguyon, 
became  Monsieur's  gentleman-in-waiting.  The  house- 
hold was  arranged  on  exactly  the  same  footing  as  that 
of  the  Dauphin  and  Marie  Antoinette,  and  Madame  du 
Barry  determined  to  bring  forward  the  Comtesse  de 
Provence  on  all  possible  occasions,  and  to  make  her, 
if  possible,  Marie  Antoinette's  successful  rival  in  the 
affections  of  the  King,  and  therefore  in  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Court. 

The  marriage  took  place  in  May  1773,  when  the 
Comte  de  Provence  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  the 
bride    two    years    his    senior.       The    bridegroom    said 


His  Marriage  15 

"  yes  "  in  so  sonorous  a  voice  that  every  one  in  church 
was  astonished.  His  brother  was  childless,  and  he  was 
in  a  hurry  to  be  married.  He  performed  his  part 
in  the  ceremony  with  the  grace  and  dignity  which  had 
already  made  him  a  prime  favourite  with  the  populace, 
in  contradistinction  to  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who  shone 
in  Court  circles,  but  yawned  at  public  ceremonies.  In 
spite  of  the  disorder  in  the  finances,  and  the  fact  that 
Louis  XV's  quarrel  with  the  Parlements  had  so  offended 
the  Princes  of  the  Blood  that  they  refused  to  appear  at 
the  wedding,  the  affair  was  celebrated  with  the  utmost 
magnificence,  the  fetes,  illuminations,  orchestras,  masked 
balls,  and  theatrical  performances  being  almost  as 
sumptuous  as  those  which  had  celebrated  the  marriage 
of  the  heir  to  the  French  throne.  Indeed,  the  fireworks 
in  the  great  park  at  Versailles  were  the  most  remark- 
able that  had  ever  been  displayed  in  France. 

Unfortunately,  however,  for  the  success  of  Madame 
du  Barry's  intrigues,  the  Comtesse  de  Provence  was  so 
utterly  insignificant,  that  it  was  impossible  to  think  of 
her  as  a  possible  rival  to  the  brilliant  young  Dauphine. 
"  A  pair  of  tolerably  fine  eyes  obtained  for  the  Comtesse 
de  Provence  upon  her  arrival  at  Versailles  the  only 
praises  which  could  reasonably  be  bestowed  on  her," 
says  Madame  Campan.  She  was  totally  wanting  in  a 
desire  to  please,  and  possessed  no  intellectual  advantages 
to  compensate  for  her  lack  of  physical  attractions.  She 
was  indeed  so  insignificant  that  Marie  Antoinette,  to 
whom  the  Court  gossips  had  of  course  whispered  news 
of  the  r61e  marked  out  for  her  sister-in-law  at  Court, 
and  who  was  therefore  prepared  to  dislike  and  to  fear 
her,  soon  felt  no  scruples  in  admitting  her  to  her 
intimacy  ;  and  when  later  the  circle  was  enlarged  by 
the  Comtesse  de  Provence's  sister  becoming'  Comtesse 


1 6  Louis  XVIII 

d'Artois,  the  three  young  Princesses  were  for  a  time 
almost  inseparable.  Matters  were  not  indeed  as 
harmonious  as  their  smooth  surface  proclaimed,  and 
serious  dissensions,  leading  eventually  to  far-reaching 
consequences,  would  make  their  appearance  before 
long  ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  put  the  Comtesse  de 
Provence  into  any  prominent  position,  and  it  was 
only  as  her  husband's  tool  that  she  was  eventually  to 
become  the  object  of  Marie  Antoinette's  bitter  dislike. 

Monsieur's  disappointment  must  have  been  intense 
when  he  found  himself  with  a  wife  so  different  in 
personality  from  his  charming  and  popular  sister-in- 
law — a  wife  who  seemed  as  little  likely  to  provide 
domestic  delight  as  to  help  in  forwarding  political 
ambitions.  However,  even  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
was  reasonable  and  self-controlled,  and  though  he  found 
that  the  Comtesse  could  not  enter  into  his  intellectual 
pursuits,  he  remembered  that  unity  is  strength,  and  that 
his  interests  and  hers  were  on  many  points  identical. 
Therefore  he  made  a  friend  of  his  plain,  dull  little 
wife,  and  as — in  spite  of  his  enemies'  assertions  to  the 
contrary — he  was  of  an  affectionate  nature,  he  became 
to  a  certain  extent  attached  to  her ;  and  for  the  first 
few  years  of  their  married  life  they  were  an  apparently 
happy  couple.  The  lively  Dauphine  made  fun  of  their 
supposed  love  for  seclusion  and  for  each  other's  society 
when,  after  the  Comte  had  professed  a  predilection  for 
winter  and  for  his  own  fireside,  she  sent  him  a  sketch 
by  Fragonard  representing  him  and  the  Comtesse 
sitting  over  the  fire,  in  dressing-gowns  and  cotton  caps, 
with  muffs  on  their  knees. 

Several  rather  barren  honours  had  in  the  meantime 
been  granted  to  the  Comte  de  Provence.  In  1 77 1  he 
was  given  the  Colonelship  of  the  Regiment  of  Provence, 


His  Married  Life  17 

though  he  was  not  allowed  to  visit  his  regiment,  and  in 
December  1773  he  was  installed  in  the  Mastership  of 
Saint-Lazare,  and  of  Notre-Dame  de  Montcarmel.  It 
had  always  been  considered  politic,  while  keeping  those 
near  the  throne  carefully  in  leading  strings,  to  grant 
them  from  time  to  time  harmless  dignities. 

On  May  10,  1774,  Louis  XV  breathed  his  last,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  grandson  Louis  XVI.  The  new 
King  had  no  children,  so  the  Comte  de  Provence,  or 
Monsieur,  as  was  now  his  title,  became  heir-presumptive 
to  the  throne  of  France. 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Comte  de  Provence  as  heir  to  the  throne — Appearance,  literary 
tastes— Supposed  interview  with  Voltaire — -Writings,  political 
views,  forced  inactivity — His  tour  in  France — Relations  with  Marie 
Antoinette.  Accusations  against  him — Jealousies  and  resentments 
— Birth  of  Madame  Royale — Birth  of  the  first  Dauphin — Monsieur 
no  longer  heir-apparent — Birth  of  the  Due  de  Normandie. 

THE  Comte  de  Provence  now  found  himself  in  a 
position  of  the  first  importance — a  position,  too, 
which  called  for  the  utmost  tact  and  diplomacy.  The 
heirs-apparent  to  the  French  throne  had  good  cause 
to  curse  the  memory  of  the  intriguing,  irresponsible 
Gaston  d'Orleans,  Louis  XIII's  only  brother,  who  had 
imbued  the  succeeding  line  of  monarchs  with  a  per- 
manent distrust  and  terror  of  their  possible  machina- 
tions. In  consequence,  they  were  tied  hand  and  foot, 
denied  any  position  which  involved  power  and  influence, 
and  kept  in  the  background  with  the  utmost  severity. 
Monsieur  was  by  nature  timid  and  cautious,  his 
artificial  and  confined  life  had  kept  him  strangely 
ignorant  on  many  practical  subjects,  but  nevertheless 
he  possessed  real  diplomatic  talent  which  needed  only 
time  and  opportunity  for  development,  and  it  was 
maddening  to  be  kept  in  a  state  of  inaction  while  some 
one  utterly  incapable  mismanaged  matters  at  the  helm. 

In    appearance    Monsieur    to    a    certain    extent    re- 
sembled   Louis    XVI.       Like    him    he    inherited    the 

aquiline  nose,   round  face  with  the  heavy  jowl,  short 

18 


.  ^,-'  "''       ._^-» £ 


li>.uIIU.l.!! 


i 


MONSIEUR  FEEEE  DC  HOI 

Ne  /<•  /-  flovembre  176S. 

L)oux  .  priuloiK.  sacc  o(   deljonmure 
A  la    jMiiloHopmc    il   ioin(    la    voinlo,- 

ll  a  les    vertus  <le  son  Irene, 
I'lt.s'il  ti'apas  Io  Scep(rc, il  <i  l«i  ma 


pllilif  llllfll 

From  on  engraving  by  Veriti. 

THE   COMTE    DE    PROVENCE. 

(Afterwards  Louis  XVIII.) 

p.  18] 


Personal  Appearance  19 

chin,  and  retreating  forehead  so  often  characteristic 
of  the  Bourbons.  In  spite,  however,  of  the  inelegance 
caused  by  premature  stoutness,  and  the  fact  that  even 
as  a  comparatively  young  man  his  walk  resembled  a 
waddle,  he  was  distinctly  good-looking,  and — unlike 
his  elder  brother — extremely  dignified.  His  complexion 
was  white  and  clear,  his  hair  fair,  and  his  slightly  open 
and  smiling  mouth  gave  an  air  of  affability  to  his 
countenance.  It  was  not  a  strong  face,  and  a  certain 
weakness  would  show  itself  in  his  later  life  when  action 
was  needed,  though  never  when  the  passive  courage 
of  endurance  was  required.  Then  his  fortitude  was 
unfailing  ;  he  was  always  cheerful,  hopeful,  and 
buoyant.  In  this,  as  well  as  in  his  other  qualities  and 
limitations,  there  was  something  feminine  ;  indeed,  an 
unfriendly  observer  remarked  at  this  time  that  the 
young  Prince  reminded  him  of  an  old  woman. 

Though  rather  fond  of  jests  and  stories  of  a 
Rabelaisian  flavour,  the  Comte  de  Provence  was  a 
charming,  witty  conversationalist.  His  character  was 
not  heavy,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  serene  blue 
eyes  sometimes  assumed  a  slightly  vacuous  expression. 
The  serenity  which  was  one  of  his  most  marked 
characteristics,  and  never  forsook  him  even  in  the 
times  of  blackest  misfortune,  was  slightly  irritating 
at  this  period  of  his  life.  It  was  considered  a  proof 
of  dissimulation ;  and  as  it  was  combined  with  a 
mocking  spirit  and  a  certain  theatricality  of  manner 
which  never  forsook  him  all  his  life,  the  effect  of  his 
personality  on  the  average  courtier  was  disconcerting 
and  repellent. 

Monsieur  posed  a  good  deal  at  this  period  of  his 
life  ;  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  one  with 
his    character    and     in     his    position — surrounded     by 


2o  Louis  XVIII 

malign  criticism,  bound  with  a  thousand  fetters, 
doomed  to  inaction  when  he  longed,  not  for  big 
schemes,  possibly,  but  to  work,  to  agitate,  and  to  do 
after  his  own  fashion — could  be  natural.  According 
to  Court  opinion,  he  was  cold,  cynical,  and  heartless, 
a  mocker  and  intriguer,  who  calculated  everything  to 
his  own  advantage. 

His  conduct  was  most  disadvantageously  compared 
with  that  of  his  brother  Artois,  who  worshipped  many 
women,  gambled  for  enormous  stakes,  walked  on  a 
tight  rope  before  the  Royal  Family  ;  and  with  his 
good  looks  and  delightful  manner  was  the  beau  ideal 
of  what  a  dashing  young  Prince  of  the  Ancien  Regime 
should  be.  Events  would  teach  him  nothing,  he 
would  be  gay  and  irresponsible — a  child  to  the  end. 
Surely  one  can  hardly  join  in  the  chorus  of  those  who 
blamed  Monsieur  violently  for  his  knowledge  of  his 
own  superiority  to  this  feather-brained  younger  brother, 
as  well  as  to  the  poor  King,  of  whom  in  the  stress  and 
storm  of  Revolution,  when  immediate  action  was  im- 
perative, his  Minister  said  sadly  that  he  might  have 
been  talking  to  him  of  the  affairs  of  the  Emperor  of 
China  instead  of  his  own,  so  impossible  was  it  to  pierce 
his  dull  indifference.1 

The  Comte  de  Provence,  however,  suffered  from 
one  great  disadvantage.  Women  disliked  him.  His 
compliments  had  not  the  true  ring  of  passion  ;  he  was 
a  pedant,  a  mocker,  a  cynic.  In  that  corrupt  Court  his 
respectable  life  did  not  stand  him  in  good  stead  ;  it  merely 
proved  his  indifference  and  insensibility  to  women's 
charms.  He  would  u  talk  to  you  quite  calmly  of  the 
flames  and  fires  of  love,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  as 
he  would  have  talked  of  the  ice  of  the  Antarctic  Pole, 

1  Correspondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  iii.  p.  30. 


Visit  to  Voltaire  21 

or  of  the  frigidity  of  the  Pole,"  1  cries  the  writer  of 
Madame  de  Crequy's  memoirs  indignantly.  In  the 
realm  of  thought  he  took  the  fashionable  side.  He 
was  a  philosopher,  and  he  admired  Voltaire,  who  was 
disliked  by  the  King  and  Queen.  An  account,  pro- 
bably apocryphal,2  is  given  of  a  secret  visit  paid  by 
him  to  the  old  philosopher  when,  before  the  Revolution, 
the  latter  came  to  Paris.  We  are  told  that  Voltaire 
received  his  Royal  guest — who  was  supposed  to  be 
unknown  to  him — in  a  dressing-gown  of  blue  brocade 
covered  with  gold  and  silver  flowers,  his  head  covered 
by  a  cotton  cap,  while  over  that  he  wore  a  velvet 
and  fur  cap  which  had  been  presented  to  him  by 
Catherine  II.  His  eyes  were  brilliant  with  the  light 
of  malice  and  of  genius,  the  thin  pale  lips  of  his  tooth- 
less mouth  were  broadened  in  a  sardonic  smile,  his 
aquiline  nose  approached  his  pointed  and  prominent 
chin,  and  his  hollow  cheeks  and  wrinkled  brown  skin 
gave  him  a  corpse-like  aspect. 

To  this  strange  old  figure,  the  spirit  hardly  covered 
with  body,  of  a  man  so  eager  for  truth  and  reality  in 
an  artificial  world,  that  in  his  detestation  of  shams  he 
had  discarded  with  them  mankind's  most  inspiring 
ideals,  enter  'Monsieur,  plump,  well-liking,  well  satis- 
fied with  himself,  dignified,  and  slightly  theatrical,  the 
type  of  that  old  world  so  soon  to  pass  away.  It  was 
the  meeting  of  youth  and  age  ;  yet,  by  a  strange  anti- 
thesis, age  on  this  occasion  represented  what  was  new, 
and  youth  what  was  old,  decrepit,  and  decaying. 
According  to  the  story,  the  two  had  a  long  conversa- 
tion, and  in  the  course  of  it  Monsieur  asked  Voltaire, 

1  Souvenirs  de  la  Marquise  dc  Crequy,  vol.  v.  p.  37. 
*  Memoirs   of  Louis   XVIII,    Lamothe-Langon.      These   supposed 
memoirs  are  not  trustworthy. 


22  Louis  XVIII 

"  You  find  Paris  much  changed  during  your  absence  ? ' 
tc  Yes,"    he    replied,   u  its    inhabitants   begin    to  think, 
and  I  hope  that  before  long  they  will  begin  to  act." 

In  a  frivolous  Court,  Monsieur's  love  of  literature 
was  imputed  to  him  as  a  crime.  A  Prince  of  the  Blood 
should  not  resemble  a  schoolmaster  !  He  prided  him- 
self on  knowing  everything  ;  he  studied,  he  translated 
Horace,  he  wrote  verses.  Sometimes  these  were  rather 
pretty,  as  in  the  case  of  the  couplet  he  sent  to  the 
Queen  with  a  fan  of  "  exquisite  taste  and  magnificence," 
after  he  had  had  the  misfortune  to  break  hers,  and 
she  had  said  laughingly  that  she  must  apply  to  the 
empty  Exchequer  for  a  new  one. 

"  Au  milieu  des  chaleurs  extremes, 
Heureux  d'occuper  vos  loisirs, 
J'aurai  soin  pres  de  vous  d'amener  les  zephirs, 
Les  amours  y  viendront  d'eux-memes." 

This  couplet  had  an  enormous  success,  and  afterwards 
the  King  always  talked  of  applying  to  "  my  brother 
the  poet "  whenever  a  speech  or  manifesto  was  in 
process  of  composition. 

Monsieur  studied  the  intricacies  of  style,  and  could 
write  excellent  parodies.  He  loved  to  puzzle  and 
mislead  people,  and  besides  the  enigmas  he  composed 
for  sometimes  unappreciative  friends,  he  would  occa- 
sionally invent  elaborate  mystifications  which  he  sent 
to  the  Mercure  de  France.  One  of  these  gave  the 
account  of  an  imaginary  trial  in  which  the  Custom 
House  at  Marseilles  sued  the  Consul  at  Alexandria 
for  damages.  The  Consul  had  sent  to  France  a  case 
of  crocodiles'  eggs.  These  had  hatched  on  the  way, 
and  when  the  case  was  opened  the  crocodiles  jumped 
out  and  tried  to  devour  the  officials.  This  joke  was 
highly  successful,  as  to  Monsieur's  delight  the  Journal 


His  Writings  23 

des   Savans   was    much   interested   in   the   matter,  and 
discoursed  learnedly  on  it. 

Another  of  Monsieur's  imaginings  has  a  certain 
political  significance.  In  1 784  he  published  a  pamphlet, 
of  which  this  is  part  of  the  title,  "  Historical  Descrip- 
tion of  a  Symbolical  Monster,  taken  alive  on  the 
borders  of  the  lake  Faqua." 

This  monster,  which  possessed  the  feet  of  an  ostrich, 
the  horns  of  a  buffalo,  the  tail  of  a  monkey,  and  the 
mane  of  a  lion,  devastated  the  fair  land  of  France,  till 
it  was  caught  and  carried  off  to  Spain.  Monsieur 
offered  the  picture  of  this  monster  "  to  the  lovers  of 
truth  and  of  their  country,  and  to  the  enemies  of 
tyranny  and  oppression.  The  honest  man  may  read 
without  fear,  but  whoever  thinks  he  sees  his  portrait 
in  the  monster  whose  description  he  has  read,  reads 
it,  tears  it,  throws  it  into  the  fire.  No  matter  ;  the 
picture  is  made,  or  at  least  begun." 

This  was  written  at  a  later  date  than  the  time  we 
are  considering,  when  the  only  step  Monsieur  had 
taken  in  politics  was  decidedly  reactionary.  He  was 
a  strong  partisan  of  military  authority,  and  he  scoffed 
at  the  Economists,  and  at  Turgot  ;  and  did  his  best 
to  oppose  the  measures  brought  forward  by  that  great 
reformer.  Necker  also  fell  under  his  disapproval,  and 
many  of  the  most  violent  pamphlets  against  the 
measures  of  reform  attempted  by  these  two  Ministers, 
were  written  either  by  Monsieur  or  at  his  dictation, 
and  were  printed  at  the  private  printing-press  in  his 
Palace. 

Monsieur  also  opposed  the  re-establishment  of  the 
old  "  Parlements,"  which,  after  continual  battlings  with 
the  Royal  authority,  had  been  abolished  by  Louis  XV 
in   1 77 1  ;  and  he  begged  Louis  XVI   not  to  disavow 


24  Louis  XVIII 

his  grandfather's  victory.  On  this  occasion  Turgot 
took  the  same  side  as  he,  knowing  that  the  "  Parle- 
ments "  were  often  obstructions  to  measures  which 
were  for  the  public  weal  as  well  as  against  it.  Monsieur 
no  doubt  did  not  look  on  the  matter  from  this  ex- 
tended point  of  view,  and  only  considered  the  recall 
of  the  tiresome,  turbulent  "  Parlements  "  as  a  sign  of 
Royal  weakness. 

On  this  occasion  he  sent  a  Memorial  to  Louis  XVI, 
in  which  he  said  :  "  The  reintegrated  Parlements  will 
act  against  the  interests  of  the  State,  the  people,  and 
the  King,  and  while  disobeying,  will  declare  they  do 
not  disobey.  The  population  will  come  to  their  aid, 
and  the  Royal  authority  will  succumb  one  day,  crushed 
by  the  weight  of  their  resistance."  ! 

Memorials  and  pamphlets  were  the  only  outlet  for 
Monsieur's  energies,  as  Maurepas,  Louis  XVI's  First 
Minister,  had  taken  good  care  that  he  should  not  have 
a  seat  on  the  Council,  so  that  he  had  no  voice  in  the 
direction  of  public  affairs.  Therefore,  as  he  wrote  to 
his  friend  Gustavus  III  of  Sweden  :  "  I  rage  with  all 
my  heart  against  the  uselessness  in  which  they  leave 
me,  but  try  to  be  patient,  and  to  live  in  hope."  2 

Monsieur  never  forgave  Maurepas,  about  whose 
subserviency  to  his  wife  he  makes  fun  in  the  satire 
called  "  Dream  of  M.  de  Maurepas,  or  the  Puppets 
of  the  French  Government."  He  says  of  Turgot  in 
the  same  pamphlet  :  "  There  was  in  France  a  stupid, 
clumsy,  heavy  man,  with  more  roughness  than  decision, 
more  obstinacy  than  firmness."  Above  all  he  hated 
Choiseul,    the    instigator    of    that    ill-fated    Austrian 

1  Biographie  Universelle,  vol.  lxxii.  p.  114. 

8  Geffroy  Gustave  III  et  La  Conr  de  France,  vol.  i.  p.  294.     Letter, 
March  29,  1777. 


Monsieur  in  Opposition  25 

marriage.  In  fact  Monsieur  was  bitterly  in  opposition 
at  this  period  of  his  life,  and  detested  all  the  King's 
Ministers.  It  was  intensely  galling,  with  a  conscious- 
ness of  his  own  unused  capacity  for  government,  to  be 
perforce  ignorant  of  matters  on  which  the  men  he 
considered  servants  to  his  brother  were  well  informed  ; 
and  to  save  his  pride  before  the  courtiers,  he  would 
often  pretend  knowledge  where  he  was  totally  ignorant. 
The  situation  must  have  been  maddening  to  one  of 
his  calibre  ;  and  it  was  naturally  hardly  consoling  when 
the  Comte  d'Artois'  incapacity  for  a  seat  on  the  Council 
was  cited  to  him  as  a  reason  for  his  own  exclusion. 
In  vain  Monsieur  tried  the  most  eloquent— though 
perhaps  specious — reasoning,  and  told  the  King  that  it 
would  be  highly  expedient  for  him  to  have  on  the 
Council  another  self  whose  interests  could  not  be 
separated  from  his,  and  who  would  help  to  discover 
any  snares  held  out  to  him.1  Perhaps  if  Louis  had 
trusted  his  brother,  and,  instead  of  making  an  enemy 
of  him,  had  allowed  him  a  voice  in  the  management 
of  affairs,  in  the  troublous  days  to  come,  his  and  the 
Queen's  lives  might  have  been  spared.  Brotherly 
affection  might  in  this  case  have  proved  wiser  than 
policy  ;  for  there  is  no  doubt  that,  considering  the 
respective  abilities  of  Louis  XVI  and  Monsieur,  it  was 
prudent  for  the  King's  Ministers  to  keep  the  latter 
from  any  participation   in  State  affairs. 

Therefore,  except  for  his  love  of  literature,  he  had 
no  outlet  for  his  energies  but  in  the  round  of  constant 
frivolities  considered  proper  to  a  "  Son  of  France." 
He  went  to  balls,  wore  a  coat  covered  with  diamonds 
which    had    cost    two    millions    of   francs,2    and    acted 

1  Memoires  Secretes  Petit  de  Buchaumont,  vol.  xxviii.  p.  163. 
1  Correspondance  Secrete  Lescure,  vol.  i.  p.  56. 


26  Louis  XVIII 

occasionally  in  Marie  Antoinette's  theatricals,  where — 
unlike  the  other  amateur  actors — he  always  knew  his 
part.  We  hear  of  him  also  as  playing  for  high  stakes 
at  Marly  on  an  occasion  when  the  Queen  won  ten 
thousand  francs,  and  was  enabled  to  pay  her  milliner, 
the  Comtesse  de  Provence  won  twenty-five  thousand, 
and  it  is  recorded  that  Monsieur  and  the  Comte 
d'Artois  won  also  !  Monsieur,  however,  soon  realised 
the  folly  of  these  proceedings  ;  and  though  gambling 
went  on  among  his  household,  he  ceased  to  be  noted 
for  high  play,  as  were  the  Queen  and  the  Comte 
d'Artois.- 

We  hear  also  among  Monsieur's  occupations  that 
of  designing  a  simple  yet  effective  uniform  to  wear 
during  a  tour  he  was  to  make  in  France.  This  tour 
was  an  important  matter,  as  Monsieur  among  other 
places  visited  Orleans,  Blois,  Tours,  Bordeaux,  Mont- 
pellier,  and  Nimes,  laid  himself  out  to  be  agreeable 
wherever  he  went,  and  was  received  with  the  utmost 
enthusiasm.  Madame  de  la  Marck,  writing  to  Gus- 
tavus  III,  speaks  thus  of  this  journey  :  "  Monsieur 
and  the  Comte  d'Artois  have  just  been  travelling 
in  our  provinces,  as  such  people  do  travel,  with  an 
enormous  expense,  and  devastating  everything  on  their 
way.  Monsieur  has  become  as  big  as  a  barrel." 1 
The  French  aristocracy  were  certainly  outspoken  in 
their  comments  on  Royalty. 

Monsieur  for  his  part  much  enjoyed  the  tour,  and 
the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  was  greeted.  Above 
all  things  he  was  anxious  to  be  popular. 

It  was  on  this  journey  that  the  Prince  first  came 
into  contact  with  the  venomous  Montgaillard,  who 
would  in  the  future  betray  his  cause,  and  vilify  him 

1  Geffroy  Gustavus  III  et  La  Cour  de  France,  vol.  i.  p.  286: 


Monsieur  on  Tour  27 

in  a  most  untrustworthy  volume  of  Recollections. 
Monsieur,  magnificent,  bland,  and  dignified,  in  all  the 
array  and  pomp  of  eighteenth-century  Royalty,  visited 
the  College  at  Soreze,  where  Montgaillard  was  pre- 
sented to  him  as  the  most  promising  pupil.  The 
Prince  asked  him  to  translate  Horace's  Ode  beginning 
"Eheu  fugales  Posthume,"  and  the  boy  began  with 
the  utmost  fluency  ;  but  burst  into  tears  when  he 
reached  the  words  "  Linquenda  tellus  et  domus  et 
placens  uxor."  (Earth  and  home  and  pleasant  wife 
must  be  left.)  Monsieur,  astonished,  asked  the  reason 
for  his  trouble,  and  Montgaillard  murmured  timidly 
in  a  voice  broken  with  sobs  :  "  It  is  because  I  dare  not 
tell  the  Prince  that  he  must  some  day  die."  Monsieur 
smiled  at  his  admirer's  naive  adoration,  and  asked  the 
boy  whether  he  would  like  to  become  his  page,  to 
which  query  Montgaillard  gave  a  timid  assent. 

In  the  evening  the  Prince  went  to  see  the  Natural 
History  Collection,  accompanied  by  his  page.  Petrified 
blocks  of  stone  extracted  from  the  Black  Mountains 
were  on  a  table,  and  some  of  them  were  shaped  like 
hearts.  "  Oh,"  cried  Monsieur,  striking  the  stones, 
"  here  are  some  very  hard  hearts  ;  I  did  not  expect 
to  find  any  here." 

"  Monseigneur,"  answered  Montgaillard,  "  they  are 
the  only  ones  which  are  not  softened  by  your  presence." 

"  Why,  it  is  my  little  page  of  the  morning.  He 
is  really  charming.  This  pupil  will  do  well,"  said 
Monsieur,  kissing  the  young  courtier.1 

Monsieur  was  never  considered  lavish  with  his 
money,  which  he  generally  spent  in  acquiring  land  in 
different    provinces    of    France,    with    the    object,    the 

1  P.  9,  Introduction  to  Souvenirs  du  Comte  de  Montgaillard,  Clement 
de  Lacroix. 


28  Louis  XVIII 

malevolent  whispered,  of  increasing  his  popularity  and 
importance.  Gambling  was  a  far  more  legitimate  em- 
ployment for  the  money  pertaining  to  a  Prince  of  the 
Blood  than  prudent  investments,  which  might  indeed 
be  said  to  savour  of  bourgeois  economy. 

He  was  well  housed  at  this  period  of  his  life.  He 
had  acquired  and  enlarged  Brunoy,  a  magnificent 
country  house  near  Choisy,  where  he  entertained  the 
Royal  Family  most  magnificently,  and  gave  theatrical 
performances  of  doubtful  taste,  for  Monsieur,  though 
respectable  in  life,  was  far  from  straitlaced  in  his  tastes, 
and  enjoyed  Rabelaisian  plays  and  anecdotes  ;  and  on 
January  8,  1779,  the  King  presented  him  with  the 
Luxembourg  Palace,  which  in  the  past  had  been  the 
habitation  of  the  Grande  Mademoiselle.  The  Luxem- 
bourg is  surrounded  by  large  grounds,  and  towards 
the  end  of  Louis  XIV's  reign  a  second  sumptuous 
mansion,  known  as  "  le  petit  Luxembourg,"  had  been 
built  in  them.  Here  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de 
Provence  took  up  their  abode  whenever  they  were 
in  town. 

Their  relations  with  the  Queen  varied,  but  were 
generally  unfriendly,  in  spite  of  the  apparent  amity 
implied  by  constant  companionship  ;  in  fact  Mon- 
sieur's hostility  to  the  unfortunate  Marie  Antoinette 
was  so  marked,  that  he  is  sometimes  supposed  to  have 
helped  to  cause  the  calamities  which  were  in  the  end 
stepping-stones  for  his  ambition. 

The  Comte  de  Provence  was  indeed  in  the  un- 
graceful position  of  profiting  by  the  misfortunes  of 
the  woman  whom  he  disliked  ;  but  even  if  he  be  cre- 
dited in  that  ante-revolutionary  time  with  the  cold- 
blooded wickedness  which  is  assumed  by  this  view — a 
wickedness  to  which  the  rest  of  his  life  gives  sufficient 


Relations  with  Marie  Antoinette  29 

denial — it  is  difficult  to  invest  him  with  a  prophetic 
vision  which  discerned  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  tragic  end  thereof.  Ambitious  he  certainly 
was,  anxious  at  one  time  to  become  Regent,  and  to 
govern  instead  of  his  incapable  brother,  indignant, 
furious,  that  by  the  stupidity  of  that  brother,  and  what 
he  considered  the  unpardonable  frivolity  and  want  of 
dignity  of  the  Queen,  the  fortunes  of  the  whole  family 
were  imperilled.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
deeply  seated  causes  of  the  French  Revolution,  and 
the  magnitude  it  would  in  the  future  attain,  were  alike 
unknown  to  him. 

What  is  one  of  the  reproaches  brought  against  the 
Comte  de  Provence  in  his  early  days  as  Emigre  ?  He 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  world,  he  fed  himself  on 
ridiculous  illusions.  That  is  to  say  that,  though  dazed 
by  the  catastrophe  which  had  hurled  him  out  of  France, 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  realise  the  strength  of  the 
Revolution,  or  to  imagine  that  France  could  possibly 
exist  without  the  Bourbons  ;  and  it  was  only  the 
wearying  experience  of  continual  disappointments, 
which  at  last  taught  him  the  bitter  lesson  that  the 
creed  professed  by  his  family  was  out  of  date. 

His  almost  childish  inconsequence  at  that  time,  is 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  Machiavellian  genius  which 
is  supposed  to  have  inspired  him  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Revolution. 

He  was  without  doubt  intensely  irritated  with  Marie 
Antoinette,  the  proud  Austrian  woman  who  flouted 
her  sisters-in-law,  and  mocked  at  the  etiquette  which 
was  to  him  a  religion  ;  and  he  joined  in  the  cry 
against  her — considering  her  influence  pernicious, 
possibly  suspecting  her  morals,  certainly  objecting  to 
her  extravagance. 


30  Louis  XVIII 

It  is  difficult  not  to  allow  that  he  had  some  justifica- 
tion for  his  point  of  view,  however  mistaken  it  may- 
have  been.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  her 
youth  Marie  Antoinette  was  not  a  wise  woman  ;  had 
not  even  the  good  sense  to  follow  with  docility  the 
counsels  of  her  mother,  and  the  warnings  of  her  mother's 
Ambassador.  In  the  end  Marie  Therese  turned  away 
in  despair  and  said  no  more  ;  tired  of  giving  advice 
which  was  of  no  avail. 

The  young  Queen  meanwhile  went  gaily  on  her  way, 
amusing  herself  with  dress,  flirtations,  and  gambling 
for  high  stakes — amusements  which  necessitated  con- 
stant calls  on  an  empty  Exchequer,  and  caused  the 
Comte  de  Provence  to  bestow  on  her  the  nickname 
of  "  Madame  Deficit."  She  chose  as  her  companion 
to  places  of  entertainment  the  dissipated  young  Comte 
d'Artois  ;  she  allowed  herself  to  be  treated  with  a  want 
of  ceremony  in  public  which  was  in  utter  defiance 
of  what  was  then  considered  seemly  for  Royalty  ;  she 
went  out  at  night  to  places  of  amusement  without  the 
King,  and  she  returned  from  one  of  these  evening 
expeditions  in  a  hackney  carriage.  Did  it  never  occur 
to  her  that,  in  a  Court  where  an  utter  want  of  morality 
was  cloaked  with  a  minute  attention  to  outward  pro- 
priety, her  reckless  disregard  of  "les  convenances" 
would  be  construed  as  a  desire  for  licence  ? 

Marie  Antoinette's  beauty,  her  charm,  and  her  tragic 
end — indeed,  her  tragic  life  ;  for  was  it  not  a  mis- 
fortune for  a  woman  of  quickness  and  liveliness  of 
mind  to  be  tied  to  such  a  man  as  Louis  XVI  ? — have 
gained  her  a  host  of  adorers,  who  have  accorded  her 
the  most  whole-hearted  admiration.  Even  the  dull, 
heavy  Louis  XVI  has  received  a  halo  from  the  scaffold. 
In  the  romance  of  their  history  the  Comte  de  Provence 


Relations  with  Marie  Antoinette  31 

lurks  in  the  background — an  indefinite  yet  baleful 
figure,  with  whose  standpoint  little  sympathy  is  felt. 
Therefore  it  seems  fair — though  it  may  be  an  un- 
gracious task — to  look  at  matters  for  a  moment  with 
his  eyes,  and  to  realise  that  it  may  not  have  been 
wholly  ambition  and  malice  which  caused  him  to 
consider  Marie  Antoinette  a  danger  to  the  State. 
High-minded  and  magnanimous  silence  as  to  his  sister- 
in-law's  mistakes  would  no  doubt  have  been  more 
admirable  than  the  course  he  took,  but  in  the  inaction 
to  which  he  was  condemned  rankling  trifles  assumed  an 
undue  importance. 

A  feeling  of  dislike  between  the  two  young  families 
had  doubtless  begun  when,  in  Louis  XV's  time,  the 
Comte  de  Provence  was  brought  forward  by  the 
Du  Barry  faction  as  rival  to  his  elder  brother,  and 
was  under  the  influence  of  his  Governor,  Vauguyon, 
who  detested  the  Austrian  alliance.  Mercy  Argenteau, 
Marie  Antoinette's  adviser  and  mentor,  was  then  most 
distrustful  of  the  young  Prince,  whom  he  considered 
"  inclined  to  intrigue,  self-interest,  and  extreme  dis- 
simulation." '  He  therefore  took  much  pains  to  put 
Marie  Antoinette  on  her  guard  against  her  brother-in- 
law,  particularly  when  the  latter  for  a  time  appeared 
inclined  to  leave  the  Du  Barry  faction,  and  showed 
anxiety  to  ally  himself  with  his  sister-in-law.  Then 
every  one's  suspicions  were  aroused,  and  it  was  in  vain 
that  Marie  Antoinette  protested  that  in  her  interviews 
with  the  Comte  de  Provence  the  only  matters  discussed 
were  plans  for  forthcoming  amusements. 

"  I  am  very  glad,"  writes  Marie  Therese  to  Mercy, 
"  that   she    [Marie    Antoinette]    should    live    on   good 

1  Arneth,   Marie   Antoinette   Correspotidance,    Mercy   Argenteau   to 
Marie  Tli6rese,  June  22,   1771. 


32  Louis  XVIII 

terms  with  her  brother-in-law  ;  but  I  am  not  of  opinion 
that  she  should  confide  too  much  in  him,  nor  become 
too  intimate  with  him.  This  Prince  seems  to  me  false, 
and  as  he  is  better  looking  than  the  Dauphin,  and 
as  courtly  as  the  other  is  rough,  the  comparison  my 
daughter  might  make  between  the  two  would  not 
perhaps  be  to  her  husband's  advantage." 

Therefore,  distrust  of  her  brother-in-law  was  care- 
fully inculcated  on  the  young  Princess,  and  when 
Louis  XVI  came  to  the  throne,  this  distrust  was  increased 
by  the  discovery  among  Louis  XV's  papers  of  letters 
from  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Provence,  which 
proved  that  their  private  communications  to  the  King 
did  not  tally  with  the  views  they  held  in  conversation 
with  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family.  Both  Louis  XVI 
and  Marie  Antoinette  were  indignant  at  this  apparent 
duplicity  ;  and  when  shortly  afterwards  the  Royal  Family 
performed  Tartuffe,  and  the  Comte  de  Provence  took 
the  title  role,  the  King  said  :  "  That  has  been  acted  to 
perfection  ;  the  characters  each  played  the  part  that  was 
natural  to  them."  a 

Louis  XVI  and  Monsieur  often  disagreed,  and  we 
hear,  before  the  former  came  to  the  throne,  of  several 
unseemly  struggles  taking  place  between  the  brothers. 
On  one  occasion  we  read  that  "  a  very  beautiful  piece 
of  china  stood  on  M.  le  Comte  de  Provence's  mantel- 
piece. When  M.  le  Dauphin  came  into  the  room  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  examining  and  fingering  this  piece 
of  china.  This  behaviour  seemed  to  cause  M.  le 
Comte  de  Provence  uneasiness,  and  one  day,  while 
Madame  la  Dauphine  was  laughing  at  him  about  his 
nervousness,    M.   le    Dauphin,   who    was    holding   the 

1  Arneth,   Marie   Antoinette    Correspondance,    Mercy   Argenteau   to 
Marie  Therese,  June  28,   1774. 


Quarrels  and  Jealousies  33 

piece  of  china  in  question,  let  it  fall,  and  it  was  broken 
into  fragments.  M.  le  Comte  de  Provence,  in  his  first 
indignation,  rushed  at  M.  le  Dauphin  ;  they  took  each 
other  by  the  collar  and  gave  each  other  several  fisti- 
cuffs. Madame  la  Dauphine,  much  embarrassed  by 
this  scene,  had  sufficient  presence  of  mind  to  separate 
the  combatants,  and  herself  received  a  scratch  on  the 
hand.  A  complete  reconciliation  followed  immediately 
on  the  quarrel  ;  no  one  had  witnessed  it."1 

In  the  future  the  Comte  de  Provence  would  watch 
with  helpless  indignation  his  brother's  clumsy  handling 
of  things  more  important,  yet  quite  as  fragile  as  china, 
and  would  avenge  himself  by  bitter  words  and  satirical 
pamphlets  instead  of  honest  fist-play.  There  were 
excuses  for  him  ;  he  was  sorely  tried  by  his  forced  in- 
activity, while  the  vessel  of  the  State  foundered,  and  his 
only  available  weapons  were  a  sharp  tongue  and  ready  pen. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Monsieur  joined  with  his  aunts 
in  abusing  the  Queen  on  every  possible  occasion,  and 
that  the  Court  of  the  old  Princesses,  to  which  he  was  a 
constant  visitor,  was  a  centre  of  criticism  of  the  Queen. 
Louis  XV's  daughters  were  horrified  at  their  niece's 
frivolity  and  want  of  dignity  ;  they  were  jealous,  too,  of 
her  growing  power  over  her  husband,  who  had  at  the 
beginning  of  his  married  life  seemed  quite  indifferent  to 
her.  It  was  hard  for  Madame  Adelaide,  who  had  always 
shown  special  fondness  for  her  godson  Louis  XVI,  and 
who  during  the  early  years  of  his  reign  had  exercised 
much  influence  over  him,  to  feel  her  power  on  the 
wane  before  that  of  "  l'Autrichienne,"  who  in  her 
opinion  thought  of  nothing  but  her  own  amusement, 
and  was  ruining  the  State  by  her  extravagance  ;  but  the 

1  Arneth,    Marie   Atitoinette    Correspondance,    Mercy   Argenteau   to 
Marie  Therese,  June  15,   1772. 

3 


34  Louis  XVIII 

elder  lady  completely  destroyed  her  own  ascendancy 
over  the  King  when,  possibly  as  the  spokesman  of  the 
rest  of  the  Royal  Family,  she  submitted  to  him  a  list  of 
accusations  against  his  wife,  and  begged  that  she  might 
be  sent  back  to  Austria.  Even  after  the  rebuff  she 
received  on  this  occasion,  she  continued  to  vilify  Marie 
Antoinette,  whom  she  might  have  spared,  one  would 
think,  from  love  and  loyalty  to  her  nephew. 

On  March  6,  1785,  it  was  considered  necessary  to 
abrogate  the  law  which  exempted  the  libraries  of  Mon- 
sieur, of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  and  of  the  Due  d'Orleans 
from  Government  inspection,  as  it  was  discovered  that 
many  libels  were  printed  there.  This  was  no  doubt  a 
wise  though  tardy  measure,  as  the  Revolutionaries  must 
have  put  unscrutinised  printing-presses  to  good  use  ; 
but  because  Monsieur  had  a  pretty  taste  in  satire  it  is 
hardly  fair  to  credit  him — any  more  than  the  Comte 
d'Artois — with  cognisance  of  all  that  was  illicitly 
printed  under  his  roof. 

The  private  theatricals  in  which  Marie  Antoinette 
took  part  caused  many  heartburnings  among  the  Royal 
Family  ;  and  although  the  performances  were  strictly 
private,  and  the  only  spectators  were  the  Royal  Family, 
the  Comte  de  Provence  was  greatly  shocked  at  the 
Queen  taking  part  in  them,  and  would  not  allow  his 
wife  to  do  so.  When  asked  by  the  Queen  to  act, 
the  Comtesse  de  Provence  answered  with  dignity  that 
'*  it  would  not  be  befitting  to  her  rank." 

"  I  act,"  said  the  Queen  haughtily  ;  "  I  who  am 
Queen,  and  the  daughter  of  an  Empress." 

"  If  I  am  not  Queen,"  retorted  the  Comtesse,  "I  am 
of  the  blood  from  which  queens  are  made."  ! 

1  Todiere,  Louis  XVI,  Marie  Antoinette  et  le  Comte  de  Provence  en 
face  de  la  Revolution,  vol.  i.  p.  429. 


Quarrels  and  Jealousies  35 

This  dispute  caused  a  coldness  for  some  time  between 
the  Queen  and  her  sister-in-law,  and  Marie  Antoinette 
refused  to  come  to  a  magnificent  fete  the  Comtesse  de 
Provence  was  giving  at  Brunoy. 

««  Well,"  said  Madame  du  Barry  to  M.  de  Montes- 
quieu, Monsieur's  first  equerry,  "  when  does  the  fete 
take  place  ?  " 

"  It  takes  place  the  day  after  to-morrow  ;  but  I  must 
tell  you  that  we  shall  not  see  the  Queen  at  it." 
"  Is  that  possible  ? " 

"  They  have  worked  so  well  on  her  mind,  and 
turned  the  head  of  the  King  so  cleverly,  that  he  will 
not  go,  nor  allow  her  Majesty  to  go  without  him." 

"  But  there  will  be  a  horrible  scandal !  All  France 
will  know  that  there  is  discord  in  the  Royal  Family." 

"  No,  Monsieur's  wisdom  has  settled  everything. 
As  soon  as  he  knew  of  his  brother's  and  sister-in-law's 
refusal  he  went  to  the  King,  represented  to  him  the 
importance  of  drawing  a  veil  over  these  domestic 
quarrels,  and  said  to  him,  '  Sire,  since  neither  you 
nor  the  Queen  will  honour  the  fete  by  your  presence, 
neither  the  Comtesse  d'Artois  nor  Madame  will  appear 
at  it.  Please  arrange  things  so  that  they  and  the  Queen 
all  three  show  themselves  on  that  day  in  the  same  box 
at  the  Opera.  That  will  be  the  way  of  preventing 
rumours  injurious  to  every  one.'"1 

Monsieur  carried  the  work  of  hoodwinking  the 
public  still  further,  and  after  inducing  the  King  to 
promise  to  come  on  the  second  day,  he  announced 
that  the  theatrical  performances  at  his  fete  were  in- 
tended for  men  alone  ;  indeed,  they  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  they  caused  a  certain  amount  of  scandal.2 

1  Memoires  de  Madame  du  Barry,  vol.  v.  chap.  iii. 

1  Dubois-Corneau,  Le  Comte  de  Provence  d  Brunoy,  p.  155. 


36  Louis  XVIII 

Later,  Monsieur  gave  a  magnificent  fete  at  Brunoy 
in  proof  of  reconciliation  with  his  sister-in-law.  Every- 
thing at  the  entertainment — which  cost  fifteen  hundred 
thousand  louis — was  designed  to  do  homage  to  the 
Queen.  In  the  first  copse  she  visited  she  found  knights 
in  full  armour  asleep  under  the  trees,  supposed  to  be 
doomed  to  lethargy  by  the  absence  of  the  beauties  who 
had  incited  their  comrades  of  the  olden  time  to  valour. 
At  the  appearance  of  the  Queen  they  awoke,  melodious 
voices  sang  the  cause  of  their  disenchantment,  and  they 
descended  into  a  magnificently  decorated  arena  to 
signalise  their  skill  and  valour.  In  the  splendid  tourna- 
ment which  followed,  the  Queen's  colours  were  always 
triumphant,  and  the  entertainment  was  continued  with 
a  play,  a  ballet,  and  a  ball,  while  there  were  also  brilliant 
fireworks  and  illuminations.  "  Finally,  from  a  pro- 
digiously high  scaffold,  placed  on  a  rising  ground,  the 
words  l  Vive  Louis  !  Vive  Marie  Antoinette  !  '  were 
shown  in  the  air,  in  the  midst  of  a  very  dark  but  calm 
night."  1  The  Queen  evidently  appreciated  the  flattery 
implied  in  this  entertainment,  for  it  was  remarked  that 
for  a  short  time  after  it  she  was  rather  less  cold  to 
Monsieur  and  Madame  than  it  was  her  wont  to  be,  in 
spite  of  Monsieur's  constant  politeness. 

We  hear  of  other  passages-at-arms  between  the 
Queen  and  her  brothers  and  sisters-in-law  on  the 
respective  antiquity  of  the  Bourbon  and  Hapsburg 
families  ;  and  once,  if  our  chronicler  can  be  trusted,  the 
Comtesse  de  Provence  made  a  thrust  which  may  have 
rankled.  Marie  Antoinette's  younger  brother,  the 
Archduke  Maximilian,  had  paid  a  visit  to  Paris,  and 
had  had  a  dispute  on  etiquette  with  the  Princes  of  the 
Blood,  in  which  the  Queen  had  supported  him. 

1  Trans.  Campan  Memoires,  1884,  vol.  i.  p.  190. 


Quarrels  and  Jealousies  37 

"  Mesdames,"  she  cried  in  angry  sarcasm  to  her 
sisters-in-law,  "  how  proud  we  little  Princesses  should 
feel  at  having  obtained  the  honour  of  entering  the 
ancient  House  of  France  !  " 

"  Ah,  Madame,"  answered  the  Comtesse  de  Provence, 
"  that  House  and  ours  have  for  so  long  been  in  alliance 
that  I  feel  as  though  we  were  only  one  !  "  x 

These  disputes  were  on  trifling  subjects  ;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  they  proceeded  from  a  deep-seated 
jealousy  on  both  sides.  Marie  Antoinette,  in  fact,  made 
no  secret  of  her  dislike  for  her  brothers-in-law.  During 
the  illness  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who  was  the  constant 
companion  of  her  amusements,  every  one  remarked 
with  surprise  on  her  indifference  to  his  welfare  ;  and 
she  told  her  mother's  Ambassador  that  she  took 
no  interest  in  him  whatever,  a  reflection  Mercy 
Argenteau  begged  her  to  keep  to  herself.  He  goes 
on,  "  and  I  urged  the  Queen  most  insistently  that 
she  should  not  express  herself  with  so  much  freedom 
on  her  indifference  for  Monsieur.  When  this  Prince 
fell  ill  the  Queen  allowed  herself  to  make  some 
remarks  which  showed  that  she  would  be  very  little 
affected  by  whatever  might  happen  to  him.  It  is 
true  that  the  King,  for  his  part,  has  not  shown  on 
this  occasion  the  slightest  sign  of  affection  for  his 
brothers."2 

The  Queen's  remarks  were  no  doubt  repeated  with 
spicy  additions  to  her  brother-in-law,  and  cannot  have 
increased  his  love  for  her. 

In  1778  a  bitter  blow  fell  on  Monsieur.  It  became 
apparent  that  the  Queen  would  soon  become  a  mother  : 

1  Lamothe-Langon,  Memoires  de  Louis  XVIII. 

1  Arneth,   Marie    Antoinette   Correspondance,  Mercy   Argenteau    to 
Marie  Therese,  vol.  ii.  p.  467. 


38  Louis  XVIII 

that  she  was,  as  she  cried  triumphantly,  "  at  last  really 
Queen  of  France  !  " 

Therefore  Monsieur  would  in  a  short  time  be  no 
longer  heir-apparent ;  and  the  blow  fell  also  on  the 
Comte  d'Artois  and  his  two  sons,  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
and  the  Due  de  Berry,  whose  coming  into  the  world 
poor  Marie  Antoinette  had  attended  with  outward  joy 
and  serenity,  but  with  a  sorrow  in  her  heart  of  which 
she  unburdens  herself  in  her  letters  to  her  mother. 

Monsieur  felt  the  change  in  his  position  most  bitterly. 
However,  on  October  5,  1778,  he  wrote  very  sensibly 
to  his  friend  Gustavus  III  : x 

"  You  know,"  he  says,  "  the  change  in  my  fortune. 
It  has  produced  no  change  in  my  heart,  nor  in  your 
heart,  I  am  sure.  I  can  tell  you  truthfully,  in  the 
words  of  Zamore,  '  Formerly  at  your  feet  I  laid  my 
empire.'  You  were  the  friend  of  a  man  who  might 
some  day  be  useful  to  you  by  his  power.  I  have  now 
nothing  more  to  offer  you  than  a  tender  and  faithful 
heart,  but  I  do  it  in  friendship.  You  perhaps  will 
think  from  these  words  that  I  am  in  despair  at  this 
reverse  ;  I  can,  however,  assure  you  that  it  is  not  so.  I 
feel  it — that  I  do  not  hide  from  you  ;  but  reason,  and 
perhaps  a  little  philosophy,  and  confidence  in  God,  have 
come  to  my  help,  have  supported  me,  and  made  me 
take  my  line  with  proper  dignity.  I  became  master  of 
my  exterior  very  quickly,  and  I  have  always  held  the 
same  conduct  as  formerly,  without  showing  a  joy  which 
would  have  been  considered  hypocrisy — as  it  would 
have  been — for,  speaking  candidly,  I  feel  none,  as  you 
can  well  imagine  ;  nor  a  sadness,  which  would  have 
been  attributed  to  weakness  of  soul.  The  inner 
feelings  have  been  more  difficult  to  conquer.  They 
1  Geffroy,  Gustavus  III  et  La  Cour  de  France. 


Birth  of  Madame  Roy  ale  39 

still  assert  themselves  sometimes  ;  but  with  the  help 
of  the  three  aids  I  have  mentioned  to  you  I  at  least 
control  them,  if  I  cannot  altogether  overcome  them. 
I  saw  very  well  that  people  tried  to  probe  me  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Queen's  pregnancy,  and  I  have 
avoided  this  with  care.  The  only  answer  that  has 
been  drawn  from  me  is  this.  I  was  very  much  pressed 
to  explain  myself  on  the  subject  by  a  lady  whom  I  know 
very  well,  and  with  whom  I  am  much  connected  in 
society,  but  am  not  on  a  footing  of  intimacy  or  con- 
fidence. I  said  to  her,  '  Deus  dedit,  Deus  abstulit,  fiat 
voluntas  Domini  '  ('  God  gave,  God  took  away  ;  God's 
will  be  done  '),  and  since  that  time  I  have  not  been 
further  questioned.  In  truth,  a  year  ago  I  should 
certainly  have  said,  like  Charles  XII,  c  Deus  dedit, 
diabolus  non  abstollet  a  me  '  ('  God  gave,  the  devil 
shall  not  take  away '). 

However,  it  was  a  girl,  the  future  Madame 
d'Angouleme,  for  whom  the  Comte  de  Provence  was 
to  feel  paternal  affection,  who  came  into  the  world 
on  December  19,  1778,  and  the  Comte  de  Provence 
wrote  to  Gustavus  III  :  *  "  When  my  niece  came  into 
the  world,  I  allow  I  was  very  glad."  He  adds,  however, 
"  My  sister-in-law  did  things  very  well  this  time,  but 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  matter  may  not  go  so  satis- 
factorily on  some  future  occasion." 

It  was  remarked,  and  the  spiteful  made  malevolent 
comments  on  the  fact,  that  when  the  Comte  de  Provence 
took  the  place  of  the  King  of  Spain  as  godfather  to  the 
infant  Princess,  and  was  asked  to  name  her,  he  insisted 
on  the  observance  of  the  ritual  which  enjoined  that  the 
names  of  the  child's  parents  should  first  be  given. 
Monsieur  was  always  a  strict  observer  of  etiquette,  and 
1  Geffroy,  Gustave  III  et  La  Cour  de  France. 


4o  Louis  XVIII 

the  utterly  gratuitous  supposition  that  he  meant  to 
insinuate  that  the  Princess  was  not  his  brother's  child, 
seems  absurdly  malicious. 

On  October  22,  1 78 1 ,  a  further  misfortune  befell 
Monsieur  in  the  birth  of  the  first  Dauphin,  who,  saved 
from  the  misery  to  come,  was  to  fade  away  when 
France  was  opening  her  new  era  with  the  States- 
General.  "  Dear  me,  Papa,"  said  the  little  Due 
d'Angouleme,  when  he  saw  the  baby  for  the  first 
time,  "  how  little  my  cousin  is  !  "  "  Yes,  child," 
answered  the  Comte  d'Artois  caustically ;  "  but  the 
time  will  come  when  you  will  find  him  quite  suffi- 
ciently big  !  "  a 

On  March  27,  1785,  the  family  was  completed  by 
the  birth  of  another  boy,  known  during  the  lifetime  of 
his  brother  as  the  Due  de  Normandie,  and  in  the 
future  as  the  captive  King  Louis  XVII. 

1  Memotres  de  Louis  XVIII,  trans.  Lamothe-Langon,  vol.  ii.  p.  234. 


CHAPTER  III 

Madame  de  Balbi — Her  influence  over  Monsieur,  its  political  effect 
— Public  affairs — The  assembly  of  notables — Monsieur  at  the  head 
of  a  Bureau — Calonne's  fall — Monsieur  at  the  Cour  des  Comptes 
— His  popularity,  his  speech  to  Necker — The  States-General. 

MEANWHILE  an  important  event  had  taken 
place  in  the  Comte  de  Provence's  life — he  had 
for  the  first  time  fallen  under  a  woman's  influence. 

Surrounded  by  enemies  who  watched  every  shade  of 
change  in  his  countenance,  and  every  tiny  detail  in  his 
life,  interpreted  them  maliciously,  and  invented  as 
pleased  their  malicious  fancy  where  it  was  impossible 
to  chronicle,  his  loneliness  must  have  been  great ; 
especially  as  his  only  ally  was  a  delicate,  unpleasing 
wife,  two  years  older  than  himself,  who  suffered  an 
utter  want  of  self-control  which  showed  itself  in  many 
peculiarities,  and  who  at  the  best  of  times  was  no 
companion  for  a  witty,  intelligent  man  of  letters.  Her 
one  idea  of  correct  behaviour,  was  to  observe  the  minutiae 
of  etiquette  with  a  strictness  which  made  Monsieur's 
Court  dull  and  constrained.  He  loved  witty  conversa- 
tion, it  was  his  great  recreation — the  one  pastime  of  a 
man  who  had  been  delicate,  almost  infirm,  from  his 
childhood,  and  the  greater  part  of  whose  life  was  spent 
in  drawing-rooms. 

One  day  a  charming  child  was  brought  to  Court  by 
her  father,  M.  de  Caumont,  who  held  the  position  of 
first    Gentleman    of   the   Chamber    to    the    Comte    de 

41 


42  Louis  XVIII 

Provence,  while  his  wife  was  "  Gouvernante "   to   the 
children  of  the  Comte  d'Artois. 

Owing  to  the  position  held  by  her  parents,  Anne 
Jacobe  de  Caumon  La  Force,  a  member  of  an  old  and 
illustrious  family,  was  very  early  allowed  to  frequent 
the  Court,  where  from  the  first  her  presence  was  a  great 
addition  to  its  gaiety.  The  poor  dull  Comtesse  de 
Provence  was  fascinated  by  her  originality,  vivacity, 
and  droll  repartees.  At  first  she  was  looked  on  merely 
as  a  plaything  by  the  Princess,  but  as  she  grew  older, 
and  her  bright  laughing  eyes,  beautiful  figure, 
brilliancy,  and  merriment  made  her  a  conspicuous 
personage,  Madame  became  very  anxious  to  attach 
her  permanently  to  her  Court.  There  were  difficulties 
about  doing  this,  as  no  vacancy  was  at  that  time  to  be 
found  among  Madame's  maids  of  honour.  However, 
Anne  de  Caumont  had  become  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  Comtesse,  who  worked  energetically  for  her 
favourite  ;  and  on  M.  de  Caumont's  death,  when  his 
daughter  was  fifteen  years  old,  a  pension  of  5,000 
livres  was  obtained  for  her,  and  in  1779  sne  was  made 
one  of  Madame's  attendant  ladies. 

By  this  time  she  had  become  Madame  de  Balbi, 
having  on  April  28,  1776,  married  the  Comte  de 
Balbi,  a  Genoese  of  noble  birth,  Colonel  of  the  regiment 
of  the  Bourbon  Infanterie.  The  marriage  of  the  beauti- 
ful and  brilliant  girl  of  eighteen  to  the  good-looking 
young  soldier  of  twenty-four  caused  much  excitement 
at  Court,  and  the  King  and  Queen  and  all  the  members 
of  the  Royal  Family  were  present  at  the  wedding. 

On  December  21,  1778,  a  son  was  born  to  the 
young  couple.  Madame  de  Balbi  was  a  woman  whose 
chronicles  were  destined  to  be  eventful,  for  little  more 
than  a  year  after  this  occurrence  it  was  announced  that 


Madame  de  Balbi  43 

the  Comte  de  Balbi  had  suddenly  gone  mad,  and  that 
his  wife  was  to  be  separated  from  him.  Much  scandal 
was  in  circulation  about  the  event — it  must  be  remem- 
bered, in  justice  to  Madame  de  Balbi,  that  nothing 
happened  to  any  person  of  prominence  in  France  at 
that  time  which  did  not  give  rise  to  the  vilest  gossip — 
and  according  to  one  story  in  circulation,  M.  de  Balbi 
was  to  be  shut  up  as  insane  because  he  had  discovered 
that  his  wife  was  unfaithful  to  him.  Part  of  this  story 
is  undoubtedly  false  ;  as  from  the  evidence  given  by 
the  doctors  who  examined  him,  the  Comte  de  Balbi 
was  certainly  mad,  and  had  suffered  from  hallucinations 
for  some  time.  The  stories  reflecting  on  Madame  de 
Balbi's  honour  were  certainly  not  believed  by  the 
Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Provence,  with  both  of  whom 
she  continued  high  in  favour  ;  but  comments  reflecting 
on  her  both  now  and  later  appear  so  persistently  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  time,  that,  taking  these  in  conjunction 
with  the  dark  blot  on  her  later  life,  I  think  we  may 
assume  without  an  undue  want  of  charity  that,  if  not 
guilty  on  this  occasion,  she  was  at  any  rate  a  coquette, 
of  whom  evil  might  easily  be  believed. 

No  doubt  this  coquetry  was  particularly  fascinating 
when  contrasted  with  the  absolute  ignorance  of  the  art 
of  pleasing  shown  by  the  Comtesse  de  Provence,  and 
Monsieur  soon  became  charmed  with  his  wife's  at- 
tendant. Her  intelligence  was  keen,  she  took  much 
interest  in  public  affairs,  treated  every  subject  she 
touched  on  with  delightful  vivacity  and  quickness, 
understood  the  slightest  hint,  laughed  gaily,  and  re- 
lated stories  to  perfection.  Perhaps  she  was  a  little 
wanting  in  womanly  softness,  but  the  Comte  de 
Provence  was,  as  we  know,  rather  soft  and  feminine 
himself,   and  would    therefore    not   miss   this   quality. 


44  Louis  XVIII 

Her  very  impulsiveness,  her  fits  of  passion  when  her 
will  was  crossed — and,  forgetting  her  own  interests, 
she  would  abuse  any  one  and  every  one  in  her  anger — 
were,  as  contrasted  with  his  own  nature,  additional 
attractions  to  a  man  who,  even  when  witty,  was  a  little 
ponderous,  and  to  whom  it  was  easier  to  conceal  his 
thoughts  than  to  express  them  with  openness. 

Madame  de  Balbi  was  soon  the  centre  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg Court;  conversation  with  her  became  Monsieur's 
chief  delight  and  pastime,  while  Madame  still  showed 
a  fondness  for  her  which  excited  the  ridicule  of  the 
malicious.  She  was  installed  in  a  luxurious  apartment 
in  the  Luxembourg  Palace,  where  Madame  was  now 
living,  and  was  allowed  to  have  her  baby  with  her. 
Her  husband,  whom  she  did  not  ever  trouble  to  see 
again,  was  settled  with  an  establishment  befitting  his 
rank  and  fortune  at  the  Hospice  in  the  little  town  of 
Senlis,  where  he  lived  till  his  death  in  1835. 

The  Vicomte  de  Reiset  thus  describes  the  fascinating 
Madame  de  Balbi 1  :  "  Her  portrait,  which  I  owe  to  the 
obliging  amiability  of  her  great-nephew  the  Due  de  la 
Force,  represents  her  in  a  lawn  dress,  with  laughing 
lips;  mocking  eyes,  and  a  wilful  air.  Her  expression  is 
brilliant  with  the  fire  of  passion,  and  her  whole  physi- 
ognomy is  instinct  with  intelligence,  ardour,  and 
strength  of  will.  The  delicacy  of  the  slightly  turned 
up  nose,  the  dimples  which  indent  the  round  cheeks, 
all  seem  to  minister  to  the  perfection  of  this  fresh  and 
delightful  face.  With  her  slender  fingers,  she  crosses 
over  her  half-bare  neck  a  fichu  of  white  gauze  which 
does  not  wholly  cover  a  small  space  of  white  shoulder, 
a  poppy-coloured  ribbon  only  partially  keeps  back  the 
abundant  masses  of  her  bright  brown  hair.     Looking 

1  Comtesse  de  Balbi,  p.  15. 


Madame  de  Balbi  and  Monsieur  45 

at  this  portrait  with  its  impress  at  once  of  coquetry  and 
want  of  constraint,  it  is  easy  to  realise  the  power  of  a 
woman  in  whom  were  united  so  many  attractions  and 
so  much  intellect,  who  joined  so  much  seductive  grace 
to  such  roguery  and  tenacity." 

Madame  de  Balbi  was  not  only  a  plaything  and 
amusement  to  the  Comte  de  Provence,  she  was  also 
a  counsellor  and  a  companion,  with  whom  all  the  affairs 
of  life,  both  public  and  private,  were  discussed.  She 
has  been  called  an  intriguer,  and  it  is  at  least  note- 
worthy that  from  the  time  of  his  connection  with  her, 
Monsieur's  political  attitude  altered  entirely.  Though 
proud  and  dignified,  he  had  always  coveted  popularity 
with  the  people,  but  hitherto  he  had  been  the  enemy 
of  reform  as  practised  by  Turgot  and  Necker,  had 
opposed  the  return  of  the  "  Parlements  "  who  were  the 
great  bulwark  against  the  Royal  authority,  and  had 
taken  up  the  position  known  as  reactionary.  Hence- 
forth, however,  he  would — though  in  a  timid  and 
hesitating  fashion  and  with  many  scruples — assume  for 
a  time  the  popular  side,  would  show  by  his  moderation, 
good  sense,  and  undoubted  political  cleverness  that  had 
he  wielded  the  sceptre,  France  might  have  been  saved 
from  her  worst  excesses  ;  and  would  only  be  shocked 
and  startled  back  to  his  former  principles  when  the 
Revolution,  rolling  in  like  a  great  flood,  swept  the 
Bourbon  family  out  of  power,  country,  and,  in  several 
cases,  out  of  life  altogether. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  thirteen  years  that  Louis  XVI 
had  been  on  the  throne,  the  state  of  financial  affairs 
had  been  a  despairing  problem,  for  which  each  Con- 
troller-General in  turn  had  tried  vainly  to  find  a 
solution.  Calonne,  the  Comte  d'Artois'  favourite,  had 
come   into   office   as   Controller-General   in    1783,   and 


46  Louis  XVIII 

had  hastened  the  catastrophe  by  boundless  extravagance, 
while  he  concealed  the  tragic  condition  of  the  Exchequer 
by  a  financial  policy  composed  of  ceaseless  expedients 
and  underhand  transactions. 

However,  after  three  years  of  these  lighthearted 
methods,  which  seemed  for  a  time  to  have  brought  back 
a  gleam  of  prosperity  to  France,  it  was  evident  that  the 
end  was  approaching,  for  no  ready  money  could  be 
found  even  to  pay  the  interest  of  the  National  Debt, 
and  the  spectre  of  State  bankruptcy  drew  alarmingly 
near. 

It  was  impossible  to  impose  more  taxes  on  the  lower 
classes,  so  Calonne,  having  exhausted  his  specious 
resources,  adopted  the  desperate  course  of  summoning 
an  Assembly  of  Notables,  consisting  of  nobles,  bishops, 
and  magistrates — classes  hitherto  exempt  from  taxation 
— who  would,  he  trusted,  with  the  audacious  hopefulness 
characteristic  of  his  nature,  vote  for  the  abolition  of 
their  own  privileges,  and  thus  at  least  stave  ofF  the  day 
of  reckoning. 

The  Assemblage  of  Notables  was  opened  by  the 
King  on  February  22,  1787,  and  on  the  next  day 
it  was  divided  into  seven  bureaux,  each  presided  over 
by  a  Prince  of  the  Blood.  Monsieur  was  at  the  head 
of  the  First  Bureau,  thus  finding  himself  in  a  position 
of  political  authority.  He  was  determined  to  be  con- 
ciliatory and  agreeable,  as  is  proved  by  his  opening 
words  :  "  Called  by  the  will  of  the  King  to  preside 
over  you,  this  favour,  precious  as  it  is,  would  neverthe- 
less be  incomplete  if  it  did  not  please  you.  I  wish 
it  had  been  possible  for  me  to  ask  for  your  consent, 
but  as  it  is  not,  I  shall  try  to  deserve  it  by  the  impartial 
manner  in  which  I  lead  the  deliberations." 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  Assembly  of  Notables 


The  Assembly  of  Notables  47 

would  not  be  a  success  from  the  Government  point  of 
view.  In  vain  did  the  King  send  to  the  bureaux — 
as  on  a  somewhat  analogous  occasion  the  celebrated 
Mrs.  Bond  sent  to  the  ducklings — forbidding  them  to 
discuss  the  desirability  of  the  proposed  taxes,  and 
ordering  that  they  should  confine  their  deliberations 
to  the  methods  by  which  they  were  to  be  levied.  The 
Notables  did  not  see  the  matter  at  all  in  the  same  light 
as  did  the  Government,  and  rebelled,  attacking  Calonne 
violently,  and  insisting  that  he  must  give  them  an  exact 
and  minute  account  of  the  state  of  the  Exchequer, 
before  they  would  go  a  step  further.  The  lower 
classes,  in  their  ignorance  and  hatred  of  the  Govern- 
ment, sided  with  the  Notables  in  the  struggle  against 
taxation,  and  appeared  to  approve  of  a  policy  which 
left  the  poor  to  bear  the  whole  burden  of  providing 
the  necessary  money  for  the  State. 

Monsieur,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Comte  d'Artois, 
sided  with  his  bureau  in  everything,  and  insisted  that 
its  proces-verbal  should  bear  the  words,  "  In  the  presence 
and  approved  of  by  Monsieur."  He  took  the  popular 
side  with  emphasis,  and  considered  that,  in  the  case  of 
the  establishment  of  the  proposed  Provincial  Assemblies, 
the  Tiers  Etat  should  be  as  many  in  number  as  the 
clergy  and  nobles  united.  His  bureau  was  known  by 
the  flattering  name  of  "  the  Wise  Man's  Bureau,"  and 
he  gained  a  great  reputation  by  his  constant  attendance 
to  business  and  his  care  for  the  interests  and  cause  of 
the  people.  The  King  became  rather  jealous  of  him, 
and  popular  feeling  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  carica- 
ture was  in  circulation  called  "  La  France  Malade," 
which  represented  France  as  dying,  eight  saucers  of 
blood  having  just  been  drawn  from  her  by  M.  de 
Calonne,  the  Queen  waiting  with  a  ninth  saucer,  and 


48  Louis  XVIII 

Monsieur,  as  the  benevolent  doctor,  pushing  her  aside 
while  he  applies  a  bandage  to  the  wound. 

The  brilliant,  mendacious  Calonne  was  indeed  in  evil 
case.  Falsification  of  the  accounts,  specious  arguments 
to  deceive  the  simple-minded  King,  lighthearted  lies 
which  served  for  a  time  to  keep  up  appearances,  were 
all  of  no  avail.  Monsieur,  backed  up  by  his  bureau, 
refused  to  be  satisfied  with  the  skilful  speech — glossing 
over  the  financial  tragedy  in  progress — which  Calonne 
had  made  at  the  opening  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables, 
and  insisted  that  an  exact  financial  statement  must  be 
laid  before  the  Notables.  The  unfortunate  Calonne 
exclaimed  that  publicity  meant  ruin,  and  it  was  at  last 
decided  that  he  should  submit  the  accounts  to  a  secret 
Committee,  assembled  at  the  Luxembourg  under  Mon- 
sieur's presidency.  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that 
even  on  this  occasion  Calonne  had  behaved  with 
duplicity,  and  had  left  some  of  the  accounts  behind  ; 
but  though  a  full  disclosure  was  not  forthcoming, 
it  was  evident  that  the  position,  with  a  deficit  of 
apparently  120,000,000  livres,  was  almost  desperate. 
The  scene  must  have  been  curious  ;  for  the  Committee 
meeting  lasted  for  five  hours,  and  during  all  that  time, 
surrounded  by  a  throng  of  excited  enemies,  Calonne 
defended  himself  with  perfect  coolness,  and  with  a 
courage  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 

Eventually  the  King  ordered  that  there  should  be  a 
general  meeting  of  all  the  Notables  to  hear  Calonne's 
defence  of  himself,  but  that  no  discussion  should  be 
allowed,  and  that  directly  after  the  speech  of  the  Con- 
troller, the  Notables  should  again  divide  into  bureaux. 
Calonne  excited  general  indignation  by  pretending  in 
his  speech  that  he  and  the  Notables  were  completely  in 
accord  as  to  principles,  and  only  differed  as  to  form. 


Calonne's  Falsifications  49 

"  It  is  indecent  and  dishonest  to  deceive  the  King  and 
the  Assemblage  thus  !  " l  cried  Monsieur  wrathfully  ; 
and  it  was  decided  that  Calonne's  address  should  be 
printed  and  sent  to  each  of  the  bureaux,  that  they 
might  compare  it  with  what  had  really  taken  place. 

The  fall  of  the  Controller-General  was  inevitable  ; 
and  when  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  speculated  on 
the  Bourse  on  his  own  account  without  informing  the 
King,  it  was  considered  necessary  to  exile  him. 

Theodore  de  Lameth,  in  his  fragmentary  Memoirs, 
gives  a  curious  account  of  an  interview  with  Madame  de 
Balbi  while  the  Notables  were  sitting.      He  says  : 

"  I  had  hardly  entered  when  Madame  de  Balbi  asked 
me,  '  Well,  M.  de  Lameth,  what  do  you  think  of  what 
is  going  on  ?  ' 

" '  Do  you  wish,  Madame,  to  speak  of  the  Notables, 
who  are  without  respect  for  the  King  or  pity  for  the 
people  ? ' 

"  '  But  what  do  you  expect  ?  You  know  how  they 
speak  of  the  King.  When  they  want  change  in  a 
public  house,  they  throw  a  crown  on  the  table  and 
say,  "  Change  me  this  drunkard." 

Madame  de  Balbi  went  on  to  argue,  with  her  usual 
impetuosity,  that  the  King  was  incapable  of  reigning 
and  would  lose  his  crown,  and  asked  Lameth  who 
would  then  be  chosen  as  Regent.  After  much  pressure 
had  been  exercised  to  make  him  give  his  opinion,  he  at 
last  said  that  he  considered  that  the  Queen,  as  mother 
to  the  future  King,  would  be  the  most  suitable  person 
to  hold  the  Regency.  This  answer  did  not  evidently 
please  the  lady,  and  she  showed  her  disapproval  very 
plainly  ;  while  the  Comte  de  la  Chatre,  who  had  up 
to  this  point  been  silent,  rose  and  said  with  decision  : 
1  Lescure,  Correspondance  Secrete,  vol.  ii.  p.  122. 

4 


50  Louis  XVIII 

"  Certainly,  if  that  happens,  I  shall  undertake  to  take 
the  Austrian  woman  back  to  her  own  country  with 
fifty  dragoons  of  my  regiment." 

"And  I,  La  Chatre,  know  a  man  who  might  stop 
you  with  a  regiment  of  fifty  soldiers,"  answered  Lameth 
hotly. 

Such  talk  was  little  short  of  treasonable  ;  but  in 
spite  of  Madame  de  Balbi's  power  over  Monsieur,  and 
her  intimacy  with  him,  we  must,  1  think,  hesitate 
before  we  credit  him  with  similar  views  to  those  held 
by  his  followers.  As  we  shall  see  later,  it  was  his  fate 
to  be  continually  surrounded  by  ardent  partisans  over 
whom  he  exercised  little  influence,  and  whose  zeal  often 
outstripped  their  discretion  ;  his  fate,  too,  to  be  always 
credited  with  a  participation  in  their  excesses,  whereas 
those  who  came  personally  into  contact  with  him  found, 
instead  of  the  fanatic  they  had  expected,  a  sensible, 
moderate  man,  very  superior  in  mind  and  morals  to 
his  excitable  and  short-sighted  adherents. 

The  poor  King  was  in  a  miserable  state  of  un- 
certainty about  the  choice  of  a  new  Controller-General, 
for  he  detested  Necker,  for  whom  the  country  was 
clamouring.  "  It  will  be  necessary  for  my  brother  to 
have  no  dinner  for  two  days  to  make  him  decide," * 
said  Monsieur  disrespectfully.  In  the  end  the  Queen's 
protege,  Lomenie  de  Brienne,  Archbishop  of  Toulouse, 
was  chosen  in  the  place  of  Calonne,  whom  he  had 
denounced  with  the  utmost  energy,  but  in  whose  foot- 
steps he  was  obliged  to  follow  as  far  as  any  plan  for 
reforming  the  finances  was  concerned  ;  and  on  May  25, 
1787,  the  sitting  of  the  Notables  came  to  an  end. 
They  had  done  nothing  as  far  as  legislation  was  con- 
cerned, except  to  clamour  for  the  States-General,  and 
1  Lescure,  Cmrespondance  Secrete,  vol.  ii.  p.  134. 


Political  Disturbances  51 

to  show  defiance  of  the  Royal  authority  ;  but  Mon- 
sieur must  have  contemplated  the  nine  weeks  of  their 
assembly  with  complacency.  He  had  taken  his  own 
line,  had  come  forward  to  the  front  rank,  and  was 
now  the  most  popular  member  of  the  Royal  Family 
in  France,  if  we  except  the  revolutionary  Duke  of 
Orleans. 

Meanwhile,  no  money  being  forthcoming,  the  pro- 
posed taxes  were  sent  for  registration  to  the  "  Parle- 
ment '"  of  Paris,  who  promptly  followed  the  example 
of  the  Notables,  refused  to  register,  and  demanded  the 
States-General  as  the  only  body  who  could  decide  on 
fresh  taxation.  As  a  consequence,  the  Parlement  was 
exiled  to  Troyes,  and  Monsieur  and  the  Comte  d'Artois 
were  sent,  one  to  the  Cour  des  Comptes  and  the  other 
to  the  Cour  des  Aides,  to  demand  the  registration  of 
the  Stamp  Act,  which  was  the  special  tax  introduced 
by  the  new  Controller.  Monsieur  went  reluctantly  ; 
but  his  journey  there  was  a  triumph,  as  crowds  sur- 
rounded his  carriage,  and  the  fishwomen  threw  their 
arms  round  his  neck  and  insisted  on  kissing  him.  In 
the  H6tel-de-Ville  his  position  was  not  so  pleasant,  for 
the  Cour  des  Comptes,  like  the  Notables,  protested 
against  a  forced  registration,  and  showed  indifference 
when  threatened  with  exile.  However,  as  Monsieur 
was  considered  the  people's  champion,  he  was  credited 
with  acting  unwillingly  as  an  instrument  of  despotic 
power.  Therefore  his  intervention  did  not  interfere 
with  his  popularity,  and  he  was  accompanied  back  to 
the  Luxembourg  by  an  enthusiastic  and  admiring  crowd, 
while  the  Comte  d'Artois  was  greeted  with  murmurs, 
and  had  to  be  protected  by  an  armed  force. 

The  unfortunate  King  now  tried  the  effect  of  an 
exercise  of  despotic  power.     He  held  a  Royal  Session, 


52  Louis  XVIII 

and  ordered  the  new  Jaws  for  taxation  to  be  passed, 
while,  to  punish  the  Parlements,  he  established  Grand 
Baillages  for  the  trying  of  cases  hitherto  brought  before 
them,  and  a  Plenary  Court  consisting  of  the  Princes 
and  nobility,  to  register  the  taxes.  At  these  measures, 
which  were  not  long  in  force,  there  arose  a  storm 
throughout  the  country  which  could  only  be  assuaged 
by  the  recall  of  Necker,  and  by  the  promise  of  a 
speedy  assemblage  of  the  States-General.  Meanwhile, 
Monsieur  was  basking  in  the  light  of  public  approval. 
He  went  to  the  Opera,  and  was  received  with  tremend- 
ous enthusiasm  ; !  and  he  was  credited  with  having 
thrown  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  King,  imploring 
him  not  to  overthrow  the  constitutional  laws  of  the 
country.  On  Necker's  recall  he  was  anxious  to  prove 
that  he  was  no  longer  hostile  to  the  popular  favourite, 
and,  meeting  him  at  Versailles,  he  made  the  following 
little  speech : 

"  The  wish  of  the  nation  recalls  you  here.  I  see 
you  with  the  greatest  pleasure.  In  178 1,  without 
ceasing  to  esteem  you,  I  had  some  prejudices  against 
you  ;  but  when  a  man  has  passed  the  age  of  thirty 
his  thoughts  and  judgments  are  very  different  from 
what  they  were  at  twenty-five." 

So  Monsieur  made  his  political  recantation,  and 
played  with  the  Revolution,  thinking  it  a  fire  which 
would  die  out  if  watered  by  a  few  soothing  words 
and  a  little  judicious  diplomacy.  He  was  before  long 
to  put  his  hand  so  far  into  the  flame  that  he  would 
scorch  himself,  and,  drawing  back  in  sudden  alarm, 
would  retire  to  the  cold  regions  of  philosophical  reason- 
ing and  worship  of  the  divine  rights  of  kings. 

After    much    disturbance    throughout    the    country, 

1  Lescure,  Correspondance  Secrete,  vol.  ii.  p.  266. 


Opening  of  the  States^General  53 

risings  in  Paris,  and  violent  pamphlets,  the  elections 
for  the  States-General  were  at  last  accomplished,  and 
on  Monday,  May  4,  1789,  the  King — hopeful  that 
his  troubles  were  at  last  ended — opened  the  Salle  des 
Menus  at  Versailles  to  the  great  assemblage.  Both 
his  brothers  were  of  course  present ;  but  from  this 
time  there  is  no  mention  of  Monsieur  being  permitted 
to  take  any  prominent  part  in  a  political  movement. 
The  King,  as  we  know,  had  been  jealous  of  the  popu- 
larity he  had  earned  at  the  time  of  the  sitting  of  the 
Notables,  and  the  Queen  and  her  party  hated  and 
mistrusted  him.  Therefore  he  was  relegated  as  far  as 
possible  to  the  background,  and  was  kept  in  ignorance 
of  the  opinions  and  plans  of  the  Court.  He  was  too 
timid  and  also  too  scrupulous  to  lead  a  party,  or  to 
devise  a  policy  of  his  own  ;  but  for  a  short  time  he 
was,  with  many  waverings,  to  be  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  the  strongest  man  in  France. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Mirabeau — Monsieur's  relations  with  him — The  Memoir — Monsieur  on 
the  King — The  Marquis  de  Favras — The  attack  on  Versailles, 
Favras'  doings — L' Affaire  Favras — Mirabeau's  agitation — Monsieur 
at  the  H6tel-de-Ville — His  defence  of  himself — Favras'  execution 
— Question  of  Monsieur's  complicity  and  moral  responsibility. 

TARNISHED  in  reputation,  persecuted  by  his  own 
kin,  Gabriel  Honore  Riquetti  de  Mirabeau  had 
come  to  Paris  to  expiate  by  the  work  he  tried  to  do 
for  France  in  the  three  years  left  to  him,  a  life  of 
dissipations  and  rebellions,  irradiated  in  spite  of  its 
blackness  by  the  fire  of  genius.  After  much  opposition 
he  had  managed  to  be  elected  one  of  the  deputies  for 
the  Tiers  Etat,  and  from  the  first  he  realised  the 
significance  of  the  great  movement  before  him,  and 
determined  if  possible  to  save  the  Monarchy,  or  at 
least  the  lives  of  Louis  XVI  and  of  Marie  Antoinette. 
He  first  tried  to  approach  the  Queen  through  his 
friend  the  Comte  de  la  Marck,  but  she  refused  to 
listen  to  his  advances. 

The  dissipated  and  disreputable  Due  d'Orleans  seemed 
inclined  to  make  advances  to  the  great  tribune,  and 
asked  to  meet  him  at  dinner.  Mirabeau  was  flattered 
by  this  attention  ;  but  his  quick  intuition  soon  dis- 
covered the  despicable  character  of  the  man  before  him, 
who  inspired  him,  he  said,  with  "  neither  liking  nor 
confidence." 1      On    one    occasion    he   exclaimed    with 

1  Correspondance  enlre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i.  p.  88. 

54 


P-  54] 


From  an  engraving  by  Peronard. 
THE    COMTE    DE    MIRABEAU. 


Attack  on  Versailles  55 

passionate  indignation,  "  They  declare  that  I  belong 
to  his  party  ;   I  would  not  have  him  for  a  valet !  " x 

Events  marched  quickly;  July  14th  saw  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Bastille,  by  the  end  of  August  the  National 
Assembly  had  progressed  as  far  in  the  making  of  the 
Constitution  as  to  be  debating  on  the  question  whether 
or  no  the  King  should  have  the  power  of  veto  over 
the  laws  enacted  by  the  Assembly,  and  on  October  5th 
the  state  of  public  feeling  was  shown  by  the  Insur- 
rection of  Women,  and  Versailles  was  besieged  by  an 
excited  throng  who,  clamouring  for  bread,  penetrated 
even  into  the  Royal  apartments,  and  next  day  brought 
back  the  King,  Queen,  and  Dauphin  in  triumph  to 
the  Tuileries. 

There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  "  What  are  those 
people  thinking  about  ? "'  exclaimed  Mirabeau  in  de- 
spair to  La  Marck.  "Do  they  not  see  the  abyss 
which  is  opening  beneath  their  feet  ? "  Once,  im- 
pelled to  a  state  of  exasperation  more  violent  than 
usual,  he  cried,  "  All  is  lost ;  the  King  and  Queen 
will  perish,  and  you  will  see  it  ;  the  people  will  trample 
on  their  corpses  ;  you  do  not  realise  the  dangers  of 
their  position,  but  it  is  necessary  to  make  them  under- 
stand them."2 

How  ?  There  was  indeed  the  principal  difficulty, 
a  difficulty  which,  alas  !  was  never  overcome  till  it  was 
too  late  for  action.  Mirabeau  determined  to  make  at 
any  rate  an  attempt  to  point  out  to  the  King  and 
Queen  the  course  they  should  pursue,  to  extricate 
themselves  from  the  perils  surrounding  them.  He 
embodied  his  views  in  a  Memoir,  which  he  brought 
to  his   friend    the   Comte    de    la    Marck,   and  begged 

1  Coyrcspondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i.  p.  128. 
s  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  112. 


5  6  Louis  XVIII 

him  to  convey  it  to  the  Royal  Family.  This 
Memoir  advised  the  King  to  leave  Paris,  and  to  re- 
tire, not  to  the  frontiers,  which  would  excite  alarm, 
but  to  Normandy  or  Anjou,  to  summon  the  National 
Assembly  to  follow  him,  and  to  issue  reassuring  pro- 
clamations. Louis  XVI  was  also  counselled  to  renew 
the  constitutional  basis  of  the  Government  lately 
decreed,  to  maintain  the  abolition  of  the  Parlements, 
and  to  show  that  he  was  the  father  of  his  people,  and 
therefore  the  enemy  of  despotism,  abuses,  and  extrava- 
gance by  announcing  that  luxury  should  be  banished 
from  the  Royal  Establishment,  and  that  the  State 
money  should  go  exclusively  to  ameliorating  the  lot 
of  the  people. 

The  Comte  de  la  Marck  was  on  intimate  terms  with 
Marie  Antoinette  ;  but  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  show  the  Memoir  to  her,  as  Mirabeau  had  just 
attacked  her  most  violently  at  the  Assembly,  for  having 
appeared  at  the  dinner  given  by  the  Royal  Gardes  du 
Corps  to  the  Regiment  de  Flandre,  which  had  to  the 
people's  indignation  been  summoned  to  Versailles ;  and 
she  had  furthermore  been  persuaded  by  those  who 
surrounded  her,  that  Mirabeau  was  the  instigator  of 
the  attack  on  Versailles  on  October  5th.  Who  could 
be  trusted  to  give  the  Memoir  a  serious  and  impartial 
reading  ?  The  Comte  de  la  Marck  thought  of  Mon- 
sieur. "  Without,"  he  says,  "  having  ever  had  in- 
timate relations  with  Monsieur,  Comte  de  Provence, 
I  knew  that  he  was  a  sensible,  well-informed,  and 
thoughtful  man  ;  and  I  believed  that  it  would  be 
possible  to  confide  an  affair  of  this  kind  to  him.  I 
spoke  to  M.  de  la  Chatre,  his  first  gentleman  of  the 
chamber,  and  begged  him  to  ask  the  Prince  for  an 
interview,  which  must  be  strictly  secret,  for  Monsieur 


Mirabeau's  Memoir  57 

was  as  carefully  watched  at  the  Luxembourg  as  the 
King  at  the  Tuileries.  It  was  granted  to  me,  and 
M.  de  la  Chatre  took  me  to  the  Prince  between 
midnight  and  one  o'clock  in  the  morning."  1 

The  Comte  de  la  Marck  opened  the  interview  with 
the  most  careful  diplomacy.  He  represented  the  fact 
that  Mirabeau  was  a  most  dangerous  enemy,  and  that 
it  would  be  wise  for  the  Government  to  enlist  him  on 
their  side,  said  it  was  untrue  that  he  had  ever  belonged 
to  the  party  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  had  instigated  the 
attack  on  the  Tuileries,  or  prompted  the  violence  with 
which  the  King  and  Queen  had  been  forced  into  Paris ; 
and  told  Monsieur  that,  on  the  other  hand,  Mirabeau 
considered  it  very  important  that  the  King  and  Queen 
should  leave  this  dangerous  city,  and  was  most  anxious 
to  be  employed  as  an  instrument  to  save  the  Monarchy. 

"  Monsieur,"  says  the  Comte  de  la  Marck,2 
lt  listened  to  me  attentively  ;  he  approved  of  what  I 
had  done ;  he  then  took  the  manuscript  which  I  had 
in  my  hand,  and  read  it  before  me,  making  comments 
from  time  to  time,  either  on  passages  which  lacked 
clearness,  or  on  the  measures  proposed,  which  ap- 
peared to  him  difficult  of  execution.  Nevertheless, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  me  that  he  approved  in 
general  of  the  plan  proposed,  but  that  he  was  con- 
vinced beforehand  that  the  King  would  not  consent 
to  adopt  it. 

"  I  proposed  then  to  Monsieur  to  obtain  the  help 
of  the  Queen,  who,  once  persuaded,  would  perhaps 
obtain  the  concurrence  of  the  King.  '  You  are  mis- 
taken,' he  said,  l  if  you  think  it  in  the  Queen's  power 
to  decide  the  King  in  so  grave  a  matter.'     I  replied 

1  Correspondance  e?iire  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i.  p.  1 23. 
1  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  124. 


58  Louis  XVIII 

that  it  must  be  allowed  that  everything  was  lost  if 
neither  the  resolution  of  the  King  nor  the  influence 
of  the  Queen  could  be  counted  on.  l  To  show  you,' 
Monsieur  went  on,  c  what  is  sometimes  the  King's 
humour  when  the  Queen  intervenes  in  an  affair,  I  will 
tell  you  what  happened  one  day  when  the  Archbishop 
of  Toulouse  [M.  de  Brienne]  was  still  First  Minister. 
He  wished  to  remove  the  Baron  de  Breteuil  from  the 
Ministry,  as  he  hampered  him  ;  he  spoke  about  this 
several  times  to  the  King,  but  always  without  success. 
The  more  the  Archbishop  saw  the  King's  resistance, 
the  more  he  thought  it  important  to  remove  M.  de 
Breteuil  ;  so  he  returned  continually  to  the  charge. 
At  last,  tired  of  the  struggle,  the  King  said  to  him, 
"  You  wish  for  it  ;  well  !  I  consent  ;  you  have  only 
to  ask  him  to  send  in  his  resignation."  Then,  several 
moments  afterwards,  he  added  with  a  sort  of  content- 
ment, "  After  all,  he  is  a  man  belonging  completely  to 
the  Queen's  party."  '  The  weakness  and  indecision 
of  the  King,'  continued  Monsieur,  c  are  almost  beyond 
belief.  To  give  you  an  idea  of  his  character,  imagine 
oiled  billiard  balls  which  you  try  in  vain  to  keep  in 
one  position.' 

"  After  a  conversation  of  over  two  hours  with 
Monsieur,  for  whom  personally  I  have  nothing  but 
praise,  I  retired,  full  of  sadness.  I  was  certain  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  persuade  the  King  to  adopt 
the  energetic  measures  which  alone  could  save  him, 
and  that  resolution  and  decision  were  lacking  where 
it  was  absolutely  essential  to  find  them." 

However,  in  spite  of  the  apparent  hopelessness  of 
the  attempt,  Monsieur  exerted  his  influence  to  bring 
the  King  and  Mirabeau  together,  and  to  use  Mira- 
beau's  talents  for  the  defence  of  the  Monarchy.     As 


Mirabeau's  Policy  59 

a  result  of  his  efforts,  a  treaty  was  drawn  up,  by  which 
Mirabeau  promised  to  support  the  Monarchy  instead 
of  attacking  it.  In  return  for  his  promised  help  a 
subsidy  of  6,000  francs  was  to  be  granted  him,  and 
he  was  ultimately  to  become  Ambassador  at  Constanti- 
nople. This  treaty,  written  by  Monsieur  in  a  small, 
close  handwriting,  signed  and  approved  by  Louis  XVI, 
and  also  signed  by  Mirabeau,  was  found  in  the 
Archives  of  the  State  Council  after  the  Restoration, 
and  was  handed  over  to  Louis  XVIII,  who  received 
it  with  a  smile,  "  as  though  it  afforded  him  satisfaction 
to  look  back  at  a  crisis  now  long  happily  surmounted."1 

Mirabeau's  policy  was,  however,  completely  nullified 
by  the  King's  ceaseless  vacillations  and  occasionally 
misplaced  obstinacy,  while,  though  the  matter  is 
mysterious,  a  tacit  understanding  between  Monsieur 
and  Mirabeau  doubtless  existed  behind  this  treaty, 
by  which  in  certain  given  circumstances  —  such, 
possibly,  as  some  striking  proof  of  the  King's 
incapacity — Monsieur  was  to  be  brought  forward 
as  President  of  the  Council,  possibly  as  Regent. 
Certainly  Monsieur  was  particularly  anxious  to  attach 
Mirabeau  to  himself;  and  through  the  Due  de  Levis, 
with  whom  he  had  been  intimate  since  his  childhood, 
and  whom  he  trusted  implicitly,  he  offered  him  a 
pension  of  20,000  francs  a  month  till  his  debts  were 
paid.  Mirabeau  accepted  the  money  ;  and  instead 
of  using  it  to  pay  his  debts  expended  it  in  hospitality, 
so  that  his  house  might  be  the  rallying  point  for  men 
who  would  be  useful  to  his  purpose. 

Many    were    the    "  friendly    chats,"    as    he    termed 
them,  which   he  had  with   Monsieur,   and   the   report 
was   circulated    that    there    were    secret    assemblies   at 
1  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  ii.  p.  218. 


6o  Louis  XVIII 

the  Luxembourg,  "  of  which  l'Abbe  Maury  and  other 
deputies  of  that  stamp  were  the  soul  and  the  orators."  l 
General  opinion  wavered  about  Monsieur.  He  had  lost 
a  part  of  his  short-lived  popularity,  and  it  was  sup- 
posed that  his  partisanship  of  the  Tiers  Etat  had  been 
violently  shaken.  Mirabeau,  however,  knew  the  truth 
about  him,  and,  while  deploring  what  he  considered 
his  want  of  courage,  realised  the  difficulties  of  his 
position.  "  At  the  Luxembourg  they  chafe  and  kill 
themselves  with  wishing  to  come  forward." 2  "  At 
the  Luxembourg  they  are  afraid  of  being  afraid." 3 
"  The  Queen  treats  Monsieur  like  a  little  chicken 
which  one  likes  to  caress  through  the  bars  of  a  coop 
but  one  is  very  anxious  not  to  let  out,  and  he  allows 
himself  to  be  treated  in  this  way." 4  Thus  does 
Mirabeau  graphically  describe  Monsieur's  situation. 

Another  person,  indignant  at  the  disgraceful  failure 
of  authority  shown  on  October  5th,  and  horrified  at  the 
perils  incurred  by  the  Royal  Family,  was  trying  to  work 
in  the  same  direction  as  did  Mirabeau.  Thomas  de Mahy, 
Marquis  de  Favras,  First  Lieutenant  of  Monsieur's 
Swiss  Guard,  and  member  of  his  suite,  was  an  ardent 
Royalist.  Born  at  Blois  on  March  26,  1745,  he  was  of 
noble  birth  but  of  small  fortune.  He  had  married  a 
daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Anhalt,  who  only  brought 
him  a  yearly  pension  of  1,000  florins,  which  was  ex- 
torted by  legal  compulsion  from  her  father.  Favras 
was  a  man  of  unblemished  courage,  and  of  great 
ambition.  His  military  career  had  been  varied,  as  he 
was  a  Mousquetaire  at  the  age  of  eleven,  had  fought  in 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  had  been  employed  in  1787 

1  Lescure,  Correspondance  Secrete,  vol.  ii.  p.  408. 

2  Correspondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i.  p.  434. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  436.  *  Ibid.,  p.  442. 


I 


T.MAHY   DE  FAVRAS 

o&iftirte?  Ilur  /f  Aetmire.  iOavecf,  ate  *iomvn£ 
ou,  on  /«  rondui/atd  ecu poifiliC(, . 


From  a  drawing  by  David. 


THE    MARQUIS    DE    FAVRAS. 


p.  60] 


The  Marquis  de  Favras  61 

to  raise  a  patriotic  legion  to  help  the  Dutch  against 
Prussia,  an  expedition  which  was  to  bear  unfortunate 
fruit  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  for  it  was  while 
engaged  on  this  business  that  he  first  met  the  recruiting 
officer  Turcaty,  who  was  afterwards  to  ruin  him.  In 
1789,  he  turned  his  hand  to  writing,  and  published  two 
highly  Utopian  pamphlets  on  the  burning  question  of 
finance. 

Favras  was  in  Paris  on  October  5th,  1789,  when 
Versailles  was  attacked,  and  followed  while  the  disre- 
putable rain-soaked  column,  led  by  Maillard  brandish- 
ing a  bare  sword,  and  gesturing  to  encourage  the  crowd 
behind  him,  started  on  its  disorderly  way  along  the 
long  avenue  leading  towards  Versailles.  The  King  was 
hunting,  but  Monsieur  and  Madame  Elizabeth  had 
driven  out  from  Paris  to  inform  the  Queen  of  the 
impending  incursion,1  and  according  to  Rivarol,2 
Monsieur  was  the  one  person  who  was  absolutely  com 
posed  and  gave  good  advice,  which  was  unfortunately 
disregarded. 

Favras  galloped  to  Versailles,  where  he  found  every- 
thing in  confusion,  no  one  seeming  able  to  decide  on 
anything.  He  was  furious  at  the  universal  inaction  and 
indecision.  "  It  is  shameful,"  3  he  cried,  "  to  allow  a 
horde  like  this  to  advance  without  resistance  to  the 
King's  Palace,"4  and  he  implored  the  courtiers  to  come 
out  with  sword  in  hand,  to  raise  a  few  faithful  soldiers, 
and  to  beat  back  the  mob.  The  courtiers  objected  that 
the  crowd  was  very  numerous,  and  that  horses  would  be 

1  Jotirnalde  Marie  Therese  de  France,  Duchesse  d  'Angouleme,  annote 
par  Louis  XVIII. 

2  Rivarol,  Metnoires,  Note  to  p.  310. 

3  Marquis  de  Favras  Alexis  de  Valon,  Revue   des  Deux  Mofides, 
June   15,   185 1. 

Rivarol,  Memoires,  Note  to  p.  310. 


62  Louis  XVIII 

necessary  to  disperse  it.  "  Well  then,  I  will  get  horses," 
cried  the  Marquis,  nothing  daunted,  and  he  asked  for 
admission  to  the  Comte  de  Saint-Priest.  There  he  was 
kept  waiting  for  some  time  in  the  anteroom.  When 
at  last  admitted,  "  Sir,"  he  cried,  "  1  beg  you  in  my 
own  name,  as  well  as  in  that  of  two  hundred  gentlemen 
assembled  at  this  moment  in  l'GEil-de-Bceuf,  to  allow 
me  the  disposal  of  the  King's  horses  for  an  hour.  We 
will  then  set  to  work,  if  you  will  allow  it,  to  disperse 
the  horde  which  is  approaching,  and  to  take  away  its 
cannon."  The  Minister  replied  coldly  that  he  could 
not  dispose  of  the  horses  in  the  Royal  stables  without 
permission.  However,  he  consented  to  tell  the  King 
of  Favras'  proposal  ;  but  an  hour  later  he  returned  to 
say  that  it  was  necessary  to  wait  for  the  present,  as 
Lafayette  and  several  battalions  of  the  National  Guard 
were  accompanying  the  insurgents.  "  Wait  ! '  cried 
Favras  in  an  agony  ;  "  but  it  is  disgraceful  ;  the  Palace 
will  be  invaded  in  two  hours  by  these  brigands !  ' 
Saint-Priest  answered  nothing. 

"  In  short,  you  will  do  nothing  ? "  cried  Favras. 

"  No,  sir,"  answered  the  Minister.  "  1 

It  must  be  allowed  in  justice  to  Saint-Priest,  whom 
we  shall  meet  again,  that  the  inaction  was  not  of  his 
making.  He  had  proposed  to  despatch  battalions  to 
guard  the  bridges  of  Sevres  and  of  Saint-Cloud,  and  to 
send  the  Queen  and  children  to  Rambouillet,  while  the 
King  was  to  advance  at  the  head  of  his  Guards,  meet 
the  unruly  throng,  and  order  the  Garde  Nationale  to 
return  to  Paris.  Marie  Antoinette  had  prevented  this 
plan,  as  she  had  refused  to  be  separated  from  the  King. a 

1  Marquis  de    Favras  Alexis   de  Valon,  Revue  des   Deux  Mondes, 
June  15,   1851. 

2  Notice  on  Saint-Priest,  by  M.  de  Barante,  p.  cxvii. 


"  V Affaire  Favras  "  63 

Therefore  Favras  raged  in  inaction,  while  the  Palace 
was  besieged,  the  Bodyguard  killed,  and  the  Royal 
Family  insulted.  Next  day  his  feelings  were  heated  to 
fever-point,  as  he  formed  one  of  the  faithful  bodyguard 
surrounding  the  King,  Queen,  Monsieur,  Madame 
Elizabeth,  and  the  two  children,  as  they  were  conducted 
captive  to  Paris,  surrounded  by  exultant  crowds.  He 
noticed  a  young  officer  of  the  National  Guard  who 
wept  as  he  accompanied  the  Royal  prisoners  on  their 
melancholy  journey,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  it 
might  be  possible  to  raise  a  faithful  guard,  and  to  convey 
the  King  and  Queen  in  safety  out  of  the  seditious 
capital.  Loyal,  ambitious,  and  courageous,  the  idea 
began  at  once  to  work  in  his  excitable  brain,  and  he 
looked  about  for  means  wherewith  to  carry  it  into 
execution.  There  is  little  doubt  that  he  applied  directly 
or  indirectly  to  his  master  the  Comte  de  Provence  for 
assistance,  and  though  Monsieur  may  have  preferred 
to  know  nothing  definite  about  the  affairs  in  which 
the  First  Lieutenant  of  his  Bodyguard  busied  himself, 
Favras  was  at  any  rate  empowered  to  raise  in  his  name 
a  loan  of  two  millions  of  livres  from  the  bankers 
Schaumel  and  Sartorius.  The  next  important  matter 
was  to  find  recruits  for  the  bodyguard.  While  Favras 
was  debating  on  this  point,  he  received  an  evening  visit 
from  Turcaty,  accompanied  by  a  friend,  M.  Morel. 
They  had  just  come  from  a  performance  at  the  theatre 
of  Chenier's  Charles  IX,  appeared  extremely  indignant 
at  the  revolutionary  sentiments  expressed  in  the  play, 
and  proposed  to  Favras  that  he  should  pay  an  organised 
claque  and  hiss  it  off  the  stage.  Here,  thought  the 
unfortunate  Marquis,  were  the  very  men  he  had  been 
seeking,  and,  carried  away  by  excitement,  "  Eh,  gentle- 
men !  "  he  cried,  "  we  need  not  talk  about  tragedies  ; 


64  Louis  XVIII 

the  idea  is  to  assassinate  the  King  ;  that  is  what  must  be 
prevented  !  '  The  two  recruiting  officers  seemed  much 
surprised  at  these  words,  and  asked  Favras  to  explain 
himself ;  at  the  same  time  encouraging  him  to  confide 
in  them.  It  is  possible  that  they  had  in  the  first 
instance  visited  Favras  as  police  spies,  for  Lafayette, 
the  General  of  the  Parisian  Army,  told  the  American 
Minister  Morris  that  he  had  suspected  a  plot  for  some 
time,  and  he  had  evidently  charged  his  aide-de-camp 
Boinville,  whose  name  appears  constantly  in  the  pro- 
cedure of  the  Committee  of  Enquiry  about  the  matter, 
to  keep  Favras  continually  under  observation.  At  any 
rate,  Turcaty  and  Morel  acted  from  the  first  as 
instigators,  abettors,  and  informers.  Marquier,  the 
young  officer  in  the  National  Guard,  was  approached 
by  Favras,  but  prudently  refused  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  matter.  Morel,  one  of  the  informers,  was 
present  at  the  interview,  and  saw  Favras  hand  Marquier, 
with  the  greatest  mystery,  a  pamphlet  called  "  Ouvrez 
done  les  yeux."  Page  51  of  this  pamphlet,  which  was 
afterwards  produced,  and  was  one  of  the  most  serious 
pieces  of  evidence  against  Favras,  had  been  specially 
marked  by  him  ;  and  was  written  to  incite  the 
National  Guard  to  rise  against  the  Revolutionary 
Government,  and  to  return  to  their  duties  to  the 
Monarchy. 

On  the  night  of  December  24th,  1789,  Favras  and 
his  wife  were  arrested,  and  tremendous  excitement  was 
caused  throughout  Paris  by  a  printed  pamphlet  affixed 
to  the  walls  and  buildings,  which  ran  thus  :  "  The 
Marquis  of  Favras  has  been  arrested  with  Madame  his 
wife,  on  the  night  of  the  24th,  because  of  a  scheme  to 
raise  30,000  men  to  assassinate  M.  de  la  Fayette  and 
the  Mayor,  and  then  to  cut  off  our  supplies.    Monsieur, 


Monsieur's  Attitude  65 

brother  of  the  King,  was  at  the  head  of  it.      Paris,  the 
25th.     Signed  Barauzz." 

Of  what  took  place  at  the  Luxembourg  when 
Monsieur  heard  of  Favras'  arrest  and  of  the  accusations 
brought  against  his  own  august  person,  we  have  various 
and  conflicting  accounts.  Lafayette,  Mirabeau's  enemy, 
who  either  believed,  or  pretended  to  believe,  that  the 
plan  of  the  proposed  plot  included  the  assassination  of 
himself  and  Bailly,  told  Morris,  the  American  Minister, 
and  a  Mr.  Short,  who  were  dining  with  him  on  the 
night  of  the  26th,  that  he  had  gone  to  the  Luxem- 
bourg to  tell  Monsieur  of  the  arrest,  and  to  return  to 
his  keeping  one  of  his  own  letters  which  was  found  on 
Favras,  and  which  seemed  to  implicate  the  Prince 
in  the  affair.  This  letter,  Lafayette  told  Monsieur, 
was  only  known  to  himself  and  to  Bailly,  so  that  the 
Prince  would  not  be  compromised  ;  at  which  assurance 
he  showed  intense  relief.1 

This  version  sounds  unlikely,  as  Monsieur  was  always 
cautious  and  diplomatic  ;  and  however  deeply  he  may 
have  been  engaged  in  Favras'  plot,  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  he  would  have  written  a  letter  incriminating 
himself,  and  would  have  entrusted  it  to  the  reckless 
Marquis. 

A  second  account,  given  by  Lafayette  in  his  Memoirs, 
and  one  which  bears  the  stamp  of  probability,  is  to  the 
effect  that  he  sent  his  aide-de-camp  Boinville  to  inform 
Monsieur  of  the  arrest,  that  Monsieur  replied  coolly 
that  for  some  time  he  had  suspected  an  intrigue,  and 
named  a  house  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine  in  which 
he  considered  it  to  have  been  carried  on,  and  that  after 
Boinville  had  left  him,  Monsieur  consulted  his  friends, 
and  determined  to  make  a  public  denial  of  any  partici- 

1  Memorial  of  Governor  Morris,  December  27,  1789. 

5 


66  Louis  XVIII 

pation  in  the  plot. *  This  is  not  incompatible  with 
Mirabeau's  account  of  the  affair,  in  which,  after 
mentioning  the  inflated  accounts  of  Favras'  scheme 
in  popular  circulation,  he  continues  :  "  To  tell  you 
how  we  worked,  I  and  the  grey  man  [so  Mirabeau 
had  nicknamed  the  Due  de  Levis,  Monsieur's  trusted 
friend  and  confidant]  under  my  direction,  would  be 
useless.  You  will  guess  it  all  from  the  result.  Mon- 
sieur sent  for  M.  de  la  Fayette  and  said  to  him  before 
witnesses  :  '  Monsieur  de  la  Fayette,  this  pamphlet  is 
in  circulation  in  Paris.  You  have  a  great  reputation 
in  Paris,  Monsieur  de  la  Fayette  ;  I  have  no  doubt  that 
you  will  be  active  in  destroying  a  calumny  by  which 
the  malicious  say  that  you  profit.  1  shall  speak  about 
it  this  evening  to  the  Commune  of  Paris.  I  hope  that 
you  will  be  present.'  "  2 

Mirabeau  was  much  agitated  ;  for,  in  view  of  his 
plan  of  bringing  Monsieur  forward  as  President  of  the 
Council,  First  Minister,  and  intermediary  between  the 
Court  and  the  Revolutionary  party,  nothing  could  have 
been  more  untoward  than  this  catastrophe.  The  immi- 
nence of  the  danger  had,  however,  electrified  the  Prince 
into  an  energy  and  promptitude  hitherto  unknown  to 
him  ;  and  he  wrote  to  the  Mayor  Bailly,  as  follows  : 
"  I  beg  of  you,  Sir,  to  ask  Messieurs  the  members  of 
the  Commune,  for  a  special  meeting  this  evening,  as 
I  wish  to  communicate  to  them  a  matter  in  which  I 
am  interested." 

The  Mayor  and  the  Commune  were  much  flattered 
at  the  unwonted  respect  shown  them  by  the  First 
Prince  of  the  Blood,   and   Monsieur's  entrance  at  six 

1  Lafayette,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  392. 

*  Corresftondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck.     Letter,    Decem- 
ber 26,  1789. 


Monsieur  at  the  Hotel'de^ViHe  67 

o'clock  in  the  evening  into  the  crowded  H6tel-de-Ville 
was  the  signal  for  loud  applause.1  A  deputation  of 
twelve  members  received  him  at  the  door,  and  led  him 
to  an  armchair. 

"  Sirs,  "  he  said,  "  I  come  among  you  to  spurn  an 
audacious  calumny.  M.  de  Favras  was  arrested  the 
day  before  yesterday  by  your  Committee  of  Enquiry, 
and  to-day  it  is  insistently  spread  abroad  that  I  am 
closely  allied  with  him.  In  my  position  as  citizen  of 
the  town  of  Paris,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  inform  you 
myself  of  the  only  ways  in  which  I  know  M.  de 
Favras. 

"  In  1772,  he  became  a  member  of  my  Swiss  Guard. 
He  left  it  in  1775,  and  I  have  not  spoken  to  him  since 
that  time. 

"Deprived  for  several  months  of  my  income,  anxious 
about  several  large  sums  I  have  to  pay  in  January,  I 
wished  to  be  able  to  fulfil  my  engagements  without 
being  an  expense  to  the  State  Exchequer.  It  was 
therefore  represented  to  me  that  I  should  do  well  to 
raise  a  loan.  M.  de  la  Chatre,  about  a  fortnight  ago, 
mentioned  M.  de  Favras  to  me  as  being  able  to  do 
this  by  means  of  two  bankers,  Messieurs  Schaumel  and 
Sartorius.  In  consequence,  I  signed  a  bond  for  two 
millions,  the  necessary  sum  to  meet  my  engagements 
for  the  beginning  of  the  year  and  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  my  household.  The  affair  was  solely  monetary.  I 
ordered  my  treasurer  to  see  to  it.  I  have  not  seen 
M.  de  Favras,  I  have  not  written  to  him,  and  I  have 
had  no  communication  with  him  ;  what  he  has  done 
elsewhere  is  perfectly  unknown  to  me." 

Monsieur    then    quoted     the    pamphlet     distributed 

1  Histoire  de  la  Revolution,  par  Deux  Amis  de  la  Liberie,  vol.  ix. 
P-  139- 


68  Louis  XVIII 

throughout  the  capital,  accusing  him  of  being  the 
instigator  of  the  plot,  and  went  on  :  "  Without  doubt 
you  do  not  expect  me  to  abase  myself  by  denying  so 
cowardly  a  crime.  But  at  a  time  when  the  most  absurd 
calumnies  may  easily  cause  the  best  citizens  to  be 
confounded  with  the  enemies  of  the  Revolution,  I 
think  it  my  duty  for  the  King's,  as  well  as  for  your 
and  my  own  sake,  to  enter  into  the  details  which  you 
have  just  learnt,  that  public  opinion  may  not  remain 
for  a  moment  in  doubt  about  the  matter. 

li  As  to  my  personal  opinions,  I  can  speak  of  them 
with  confidence  to  my  fellow  citizens.  Since  the  day 
when,  in  the  second  Assembly  of  Notables,  I  declared 
myself  on  the  fundamental  question  about  which 
opinion  was  at  that  time  divided,  I  have  never  ceased 
to  believe  that  a  great  revolution  was  in  progress,  and 
that  the  King,  by  his  views,  his  virtues,  and  his  supreme 
rank,  ought  to  be  the  leader  of  it,  as  it  would  not  be 
advantageous  to  the  nation  without  being  equally  so  to 
the  Monarch  ;  to  sum  up,  that  Royal  authority  was  the 
rampart  of  national  liberty,  and  national  liberty  the  base 
of  Royal  authority. 

"  Let  any  one  quote  one  of  my  actions,  one  of  my 
speeches  which  has  denied  these  principles,  or  shown 
that  in  whatever  circumstances  I  find  myself  placed,  the 
happiness  of  the  King,  and  that  of  the  people,  have 
ceased  to  be  the  supreme  object  of  my  thoughts  and 
wishes.  As  to  that,  I  have  the  right  to  be  believed 
on  my  word.  I  have  never  altered  my  opinions  or 
principles,  I  shall  never  alter  them." 

Bailly  having  made  a  flattering  answer,  Monsieur 
finished  with  the  words :  "  The  duty  which  I  have 
accomplished  has  been  painful  to  a  virtuous  heart,  but 
I  am  rewarded  by  the  feelings  which  the  Assembly  has 


Opinions  of  Monsieur's  Conduct  69 

just  shown  me,  and  my  only  words  now  shall  be  to  ask 
pardon  for  those  who  have  done  me  wrong."  He  went 
out  with  his  hands  raised  as  though  in  supplication. 
Next  day  his  address  was  despatched  to  the  Assemblee 
Constituante. 

The  Queen  objected  strongly  to  Monsieur's  pro- 
cedure in  this  matter, 1  as  she  disliked  any  action  on  his 
part  which  brought  him  before  the  public  eye,  but  her 
feelings  on  the  subject  were  lukewarm  compared  with 
the  indignation  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  Prince  de 
Conde  and  the  other  Emigres,  who  had  fled  from 
France  after  the  taking  of  the  Bastille.  The  Prince  de 
Conde  wrote  :  "  I  think  you  will  shudder  with  rage  as 
do  the  Comte  d'Artois  and  I,  when  you  read  what  I 
send  you.  Is  it  possible  that  the  blood  of  the  Bourbons 
can  degrade  itself  to  this  point,  and  that  it  flows  in  the 
veins  of  a  man,  if  he  is  one,  who  allows  himself  a  step 
evidently  dictated  by  fear  and  by  meanness."  2  There 
was  no  thought  in  the  minds  of  the  Emigres,  it  must 
be  remarked,  of  the  question  as  to  whether  or  no 
Monsieur  had  perjured  himself;  the  point  of  their 
indignation  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  had  lowered  himself 
irreparably,  by  an  action  which  recognised  the  new 
Constitution. 

Meanwhile,  in  Paris  there  was  tremendous  excitement 
about  "  l'Affaire  Favras,"  and  it  seemed  to  be  the  object 
of  both  Royalists  and  Revolutionaries  to  hurry  the 
unfortunate  man  out  of  the  world  as  quickly  as  possible. 
The  whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  tumultuous  agita- 
tion, which  was  caused,  the  Revolutionaries  considered, 
or  pretended  to  consider,  by  Royalist  conspiracies  ;  and 
when  Favras  was  accused  by  the  informers,  Morel  and 

1  Lafayette,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  393. 

1  Daudet's  Emigration.     Conde  d  Laronzicre,  January  6,  1790. 


70  Louis  XVIII 

Turcaty,  of  intending  to  collect  an  army  of  200,000 
men,  with  the  object  of  cutting  off  the  provisions  of 
Paris  and  of  murdering  Necker,  Bailly,  and  Lafayette, 
a  howl  of  indignation  arose  throughout  the  country, 
and  every  one  demanded  the  life  of  the  traitor.  At  the 
same  time,  it  was  cleverly  insinuated  by  the  Revolution- 
ary demagogues,  that  the  Royalist  party  were  anxious 
to  hurry  on  the  death  of  Favras,  from  their  fear  of 
incriminating  revelations  on  his  part. 

Favras  was  firm  to  the  last.  He  repulsed  with 
horror  the  idea  of  the  scheme  of  wholesale  murder  and 
of  civil  war  imputed  to  him,  and  refused,  in  spite  of 
strenuous  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Revolutionaries,  to 
incriminate  either  the  King  or  Monsieur. 

He  did  indeed  write  a  defensive  Memoir,  which 
never  appeared,  as  in  a  letter  written  on  February  1 8, 
when  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Chatelet,  he  com- 
plains :  "  The  printer  is  a  cruel  man  ...  he  has  been 
bought  by  some  one  .  .  .  two  full  sheets  are  still 
unfinished."  The  same  day  he  was  condemned  to 
death,  by  hanging.  He  was  conducted  to  the  H6tel- 
de-Ville  on  February  19,  1790,  where,  probably  in 
the  hope  of  a  reprieve,  he  occupied  four  hours  in 
writing  out  a  lengthy  and  minute  will.  Long  before 
he  had  finished  that  and  a  letter  to  his  wife,  cries 
of  anger  and  impatience  were  heard  from  the  popu- 
lace outside.  Apparently  he  was  tempted  to  make 
a  full  confession  from  the  scaffold,  but  l'Abbe  Le  Due, 
who  accompanied  him,  exhorted  him  to  silence  ;  "  Your 
fate  is  irrevocable,"  he  said  ;  "  submit  then  to  what  the 
King  cannot  now  prevent,  and  consider  that  you  are 
saving  the  whole  Royal  Family,  and  that  your  family 
will  receive  the  price  of  your  heroic  devotion."  * 
1  Memoircs  du  General  Baron  Thiebault,  vol.  i.  p.  272. 


Favras*  Execution  71 

Insults  were  hurled  at  Favras  while  he  was  dying, 
and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  his  corpse  was 
saved  from  the  fury  of  the  people.  His  death  is 
noteworthy  as  the  first  of  the  legalised  assassinations 
which  were  to  slake  the  rage  of  the  people  at  long 
centuries  of  oppression,  and  to  disgrace  the  annals  of 
the  great  Revolution. 

The  question,  however,  which  is  at  present  to  our 
purpose  is  that  of  Monsieur's  complicity  in  Favras' 
plot,  and,  allowing  complicity,  of  his  moral  responsibility 
for  his  death.  Lafayette  tells  us  that  Talon,  the  civil 
lieutenant  who  received  Favras'  confession,  and  who 
long  afterwards,  according  to  common  report,  handed 
over  to  Louis  XVIII  the  papers  dealing  with  the  affair, 
told  the  prisoner  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  save 
him,  and  exhorted  him  to  die  with  his  secret  untold. 
Lafayette  says  further  that  Favras  died  "a  hero  of 
fidelity  and  of  courage,  while  Monsieur,  his  august 
accomplice,  lacked  both.  The  King  and  Queen  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  plot,  or  at  any  rate  did  not 
know  the  central  plan  of  it ;  they  had  no  confidence 
in  their  brother;  and  the  Queen  with  good  reason 
thought  him  her  personal  enemy." x  Lafayette, 
however,  as  has  already  been  remarked,  was,  as  the 
Queen's  ardent  and  chivalrous  partisan,  hostile  to 
Monsieur,  whom  he  further  considered  Mirabeau's 
trump  card  in  the  contest  against  himself;  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  to  increase  his  own  importance  he 
exaggerated  the  scope  of  the  conspiracy.  This  seems 
never  to  have  involved  murder,  but  only  the  compara- 
tively innocent  intention  of  raising  a  faithful  bodyguard 
for  the  King,  which  would  convey  him  safely  out  of  the 
dangerous  city  of  Paris.  If  Monsieur — or  at  any  rate 
1  Lafayette,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  391. 


72  Louis  XVIII 

Mirabeau — were  privy  to  the  plot,  there  was  in  all 
probability,  as  we  have  already  seen,  a  further  develop- 
ment to  this  scheme — a  development  which  included 
the  transference  of  the  chief  power  from  the  incapable 
hands  of  Louis  XVI  to  that  of  the  Comte  de  Provence  ; 
but  of  this  part  of  the  enterprise  Favras  was  doubtless 
as  absolutely  ignorant  as  was  Louis  XVI. 

Mirabeau,  who  possibly  on  this  matter  is  not  likely 
to  be  more  trustworthy  than  Lafayette,  insists  in  his 
letters  to  La  Marck  that  Monsieur  was  calumniated  ; 
as  no  doubt  he  was  as  to  the  extent  and  character  of 
the  plan,  and  the  assassinations  involved. 

"  He  has  the  purity  of  a  child,"  says  Mirabeau, 
"  but  he  has  also  the  weakness  of  one,  and  it  is  very 
difficult  to  make  him  understand  that  if  he  would  let 
things  take  their  course  for  twenty-four  hours  only, 
he  would  be  a  second  Due  d'Orleans";1  by  which 
Mirabeau  evidently  means  a  popular  leader.  Mon- 
sieur's slowness  of  comprehension  on  this  occasion 
may  be  noted  to  his  credit.  The  only  other  testimony 
to  his  absolute  freedom  from  complicity  in  "  l'Affaire 
Favras  "  is  that  of  his  faithful  and  intimate  friend  the 
high-minded  d'Avaray,  who  wrote  in  the  year  1799  : 
"  I  answer  for  the  fact  that  M.  de  Favras  having  been 
for  a  short  time  in  the  Swiss  Bodyguard  of  Monsieur 
(now  King),  gave  up  his  post  in  1775,  never  knew 
the  Prince,  and  never  had  the  slightest  direct  com- 
munication with  him."2 

Possibly  d'Avaray,  though  on  the  most  confidential 
terms  with  his  master,  was  not  the  recipient  of  all  his 
secrets,  for  it  is  difficult  to  explain  satisfactorily  why 
if  Monsieur,  who  was  possessed  of  unbounded  credit, 

1  Correspondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i   p.  440. 

2  See  Daudet,  V Emigration,  vol   ii   p.  230. 


Was  Monsieur  Favras*  Accomplice?        73 

really  required  two  millions  of  livres  to  carry  on  his 
household  expenses,  he  did  not  proceed  to  get  the 
money  through  the  ordinary  channels  of  his  treasurers 
and  men  of  business,  instead  of  employing  an  ad- 
venturer like  Favras  as  his  agent.  There  seems  little 
doubt  that  even  if  he  held  no  direct  communica- 
tion with  Favras,  and  was  careful  not  to  be  cognisant 
of  the  details  of  his  scheme,  he  knew  him  as  a  brave 
man  and  an  ardent  Royalist,  and  was  quite  aware  that 
the  two  million  livres  were  to  be  used  in  the  defence 
of  the  Monarchy. 

So  far,  I  think,  we  must  allow  Monsieur's  complicity 
in  the  plot,  and,  in  view  of  this,  it  is  impossible  to  read 
his  eloquent  speech  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville  without 
repugnance.  In  his  defence  it  must,  however,  be 
urged  that  it  was  impossible  to  save  Favras,  who 
must,  moreover,  have  known  from  the  first  that, 
while  the  success  of  his  scheme  meant  riches  and 
prominence,  failure  probably  entailed  the  extreme 
penalty  of  the  law.  On  the  other  hand,  incrimination 
of  the  King's  brother,  possibly  of  the  King  himself, 
would  have  involved  infinite  harm  and  danger  to  the 
whole  Royal  Family,  as  Favras'  confessor  told  him  on 
the  scaffold. 

We  are  informed,  moreover,  by  Rivarol,1  that  in 
going  to  the  H6tel-de-Ville  and  speaking  there  as 
he  did,  Monsieur  was  obeying  the  King's  express 
orders,  and  that  it  cost  him  much  to  conform  to  them  ; 
while  from  the  tone  of  Mirabeau's  letter  on  the  subject, 
it  may  be  gathered  that  he  and  the  Due  de  Levis  found 
great  difficulty  in  persuading  the  Prince  to  a  course 
which  was  highly  distasteful  to  him. 

His  action,  therefore,  which  deceived   no  one  com- 
1  Memoires,  Note  to  p.  310. 


74  Louis  XVIII 

pletely,  and  called  down  upon  him  a  storm  of  repro- 
bation from  all  parties,  can  hardly  be  judged  as  a  stain 
on  his  moral  character,  and  must  be  considered  rather 
as  a  painful  political  necessity.  It  was  almost  impos- 
sible to  walk  morally  unscathed  through  that  terrible 
revolutionary  time,  and  that  Monsieur,  under  the 
natural  imperturbability  and  self-control  which  carried 
him  safely  through  the  ordeal  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville, 
suffered  intensely  from  the  position  in  which  he  found 
himself,  is  I  think  shown  by  his  behaviour  after  Favras' 
death.  He  "  retired  behind  a  veil  "  ; !  he  would  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  politics.  Mirabeau  was  furious. 
"Monsieur  is  beneath  everything,"2  he  cried  indig- 
nantly. "Think  that  people  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
give  him  such  sums  of  money,  that  if  your  valet  had 
had  the  command  of  them  he  would  have  entered  the 
Council,  if  he  had  only  wished  it  a  little,  and  that  this 
Monsieur  will  probably  not  enter.  ...  It  is  deplor- 
able." In  another  place  Mirabeau  says:  "Monsieur 
has  surpassed  himself  in  cowardice."  8 

But  Monsieur  was  not  a  fool  nor  a  coward,  as  he 
often  had  occasion  to  prove  in  the  course  of  an  event- 
ful life  ;  and  I  think  that  he  deserves  honour  for  the 
scruples  which  roused  Mirabeau's  bitter  indignation. 

1  Lescure,  Correspondance  Secrete,  vol.  ii.  p.  469. 

2  Correspondance  entre  Mirabeau  et  La  Marck,  vol.  i.  p.  460. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  464. 


CHAPTER   V 

Preparations  for  flight— Deputation  to  Monsieur — King  and  Queen's 
lengthy  preparations — Last  meeting  of  the  Royal  Family — Depar- 
ture from  Paris — Events  on  the  journey — Arrival  at  Mons— Meet- 
ing with  Madame  de  Balbi — Madame's  arrival — News  of  arrest  of 
King  and  Queen— Monsieur's  affection  for  d'Avaray — He  joins  the 
Comte  d'Artois. 

IT  was  impossible  to  compound  with  the  Revolution, 
or  to  stay  the  impetuous  torrent  of  its  ever- 
accelerating  progress.  The  King's  aunts  went  to  Italy, 
Conde  and  the  Comte  d'Artois  soon  followed  their 
example,  and  the  whole  Royal  Family,  who  were  now 
under  strict  observation  and  virtually  in  a  state  of 
imprisonment,  felt  that  there  was  no  safety  possible  for 
them  in  France.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  danger, 
Monsieur,  with  a  constancy  which  does  him  honour, 
refused  to  escape  before  the  King  and  the  rest  of  the 
Royal  Family,  as  he  feared  that  his  flight  might  prevent 
theirs. 

However,  in  November  1790,  the  reports  of  the 
King  and  Queen's  intended  evasion  were  so  per- 
sistent that,  knowing  himself  to  be  excluded  from  their 
confidence,  Monsieur  went  to  the  Tuileries  and  taxed 
the  Queen  with  the  project.  The  Queen  declared  that 
there  was  no  truth  in  the  rumour  at  present,  but  advised 
her  brother-in-law  to  be  in  readiness,  and  promised  to 
warn  him  in  time.  Easter  was  likely  to  be  a  dangerous 
season,  as  on  Easter  Day  mass   would    be   performed 

75 


76  Louis  XVIII 

in  the  presence  of  the  Royal  Family  by  priests  who  had 
taken  the  oath  by  which  they  subscribed  to  the  civil 
constitution  of  the  clergy,  and  thus  had  declared 
themselves  independent  of  the  Pope,  and  therefore,  to 
all  good  Catholics,  outside  the  pale  of  religion.  In 
consequence,  as  the  Comte  de  Provence  expressed  the 
matter,  the  only  choice  was  "  between  apostasy  and 
martyrdom  ;  the  former  revolted  me,  and  I  will  own 
that  I  felt  no  great  vocation  for  the  latter."  1 

Therefore,  after  having  discussed  the  matter  with 
Madame  de  Balbi,  it  was  decided  that  Monsieur, 
Madame,  Madame  de  Balbi,  and  a  fourth  person, 
should  escape  on  Good  Friday  in  Madame  de  Balbi's 
carriage.  When  Monsieur  went  to  the  Tuileries  to 
inform  the  King  and  Queen  of  his  intention,  he  found 
them  so  deeply  engaged  in  preparations  for  their  own 
flight  that  they  took  no  interest  in  his  plans,  and  merely 
begged  him  to  draw  up  a  Declaration  to  the  nation 
for  them  to  leave  behind. 

There  was  considerable  difficulty  in  fixing  on  some 
one  to  occupy  the  fourth  place  in  Monsieur's  carriage, 
and  the  first  person  invited  by  Madame  de  Balbi  refused 
the  dangerous  honour.  Eventually  d'Avaray,  in  the 
future  to  be  the  King's  faithful  and  devoted  friend  and 
Madame  de  Balbi's  bitter  enemy,  was  invited  by  her  to 
be  of  the  party.  D'Avaray  acceded  to  the  proposal 
with  enthusiasm,  but  declared  ;that  it  was  of  the  ut- 
most importance  that  Monsieur  and  Madame  should  be 
separated,  and  should  escape  by  different  routes.  As 
Madame  was  not  remarkable  for  self-control,  it  was 
thought  wise  to  keep  her  in  absolute  ignorance  of  the 
project,   and    Monsieur    discussed    the   details    of   her 

1  Narrative  of  a  Journey  to  Brussels   and  Coblentz  in  179 1.     By 
Louis  XVIII.     Doisy  Manuscrit  inedit. 


Proposed  Flight  77 

flight  with  her  reader,  Madame  Gourbillon,  who  was 
to  arrange  everything  for  her. 

The  whole  matter  was  dangerous  and  difficult  of 
accomplishment,  for  the  King  and  Queen's  preparations 
were  not  managed  very  cleverly,  and  rumours  as  to 
their  intentions  soon  became  bruited  about. 

The  gaolers  redoubled  their  precautions,  and  Mon- 
sieur complains  that  Lafayette's  aide-de-camp  patrolled 
the  courtyard  of  the  Luxembourg  continually.  At 
length  reports  of  the  proposed  evasion  of  the  Royal 
Family,  and  especially  of  Monsieur,  in  whom  pathetically 
enough  the  people  still  felt  confidence,  became  so  per- 
sistent that  on  February  22nd,  1 79 1,  an  anxious  crowd 
surrounded  the  Luxembourg,  and  Monsieur  was  obliged 
to  appear  on  the  balcony  and  to  declare  on  his  word  of 
honour  that  he  had  never  intended  to  leave  the  country. 
A  deputation  of  thirty  ladies  was  then  despatched  to 
speak  to  him.  He  was  in  Madame's  apartments,  but 
went  downstairs  to  hear  them.  The  spokeswoman  said  to 
him,  "  Monsieur,  they  tell  us  you  are  preparing  to  go  ; 
we  beg  you  to  remain,  and  not  to  leave  us."  *  Mon- 
sieur answered,  "  Mesdames,  my  intention  has  always 
been  to  stay ;  you  know  how  deeply  the  King  is 
attached  to  the  Constitution.  I  am  attached  to  the 
King  and  to  the  Constitution.  I  would  rather  lose  my 
life  than  leave  the  King."  Monsieur  was  obliged  after 
this  to  submit  to  the  embarrassing  ceremony  of  receiving 
embraces  from  the  ladies,  and  was  afterwards  conducted 
to  the  Tuileries  in  triumph,  his  carriage  being  sur- 
rounded by  enthusiastic  crowds.  The  Mayor  had  by 
this  time  been  summoned  from  the  Council  of  the 
Municipality,    and    harangued    the    people,    exhorting 

1  Bibliotheque   de   la    Revolution,    Municipality   de   Paris  :    Conseil 
General  de  la  Commune. 


78  Louis  XVIII 

them  to  disperse,  which  they  did  with  no  further 
disturbance. 

Monsieur's  footnotes  to  Madame  d'Angouleme's 
account  of  this  incident,  written  long  afterwards,  are 
amusing.  She  remarks  that  the  Comte  de  Provence 
spoke  to  the  people  from  the  balcony  ;  he  adds,  "  with 
assurance  and  positively,"  1  and  to  her  bald  chronicle  of 
the  fact  that  her  aunt  and  uncle  arrived  safely  at  the 
Tuileries — a  way  of  treating  the  incident  which  doubt- 
less seemed  to  Monsieur  to  minimise  the  danger  of  the 
adventure — he  adds  that  they  accomplished  the  journey, 
"  not  without  difficulty,  surrounded  by  an  immense 
crowd  carrying  torches."  Monsieur  was  evidently  well 
satisfied  with  his  behaviour  on  this  occasion,  as  he  relates 
that  some  one  told  the  Queen  that  under  the  circum- 
stances Monsieur  would  certainly  give  up  his  visit  to 
the  Tuileries,  and  that  the  Queen  drew  herself  up 
proudly  and  said,  "  You  will  see ;  he  will  come,  and 
will  make  the  journey  back  also." 

However,  it  was  high  time  to  depart,  and  Monsieur's 
preparations,  superintended  by  the  active  Madame 
de  Balbi,  were  carried  on  with  much  energy.  On 
June  2nd,  however,  the  arrangements  for  Monsieur's 
flight  were  entrusted  to  d'Avaray,  as  Madame  de  Balbi 
left  Paris  for  Brussels,  being  entrusted  among  other 
important  matters  with  a  letter  from  Marie  Antoinette 
to  the  Belgian  Minister  there,  a  fact  which  absolved 
the  Queen  from  the  necessity  of  having  to  use  a 
cypher,2  which  was  a  necessary  precaution  if  the  letter 
went  by  post. 

Monsieur  was  now  longing  to  be  gone ;  but  it  was 

1  Journal  de  Marie  Therese  de  France,  annote  par  Louis  XVIII. 
3  Arneth,  Marie    Antoinette,   Joseph     II    et    Leopold   II.     Letter, 
June  I,   1791. 


Preparations  for  Flight  79 

necessary  to  wait  while  the  lengthy  preparations  for  the 
flight  of  the  King  and  Queen  were  in  progress.  Coming 
out  of  Mass,  however,  on  Pentecost  Monday,  the 
Queen  said  confidentially  to  her  brother-in-law  :  "  The 
King  has  given  orders  for  us  all  to  walk  in  the  pro- 
cession of  Fete-Dieu  at  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. 
Look  as  though  you  were  very  much  annoyed  at  this."  1 

Nothing  more  was  said  till  Thursday,  when  the 
Queen  told  Monsieur  that  their  escape  was  settled 
for  the  following  Monday.  There  was  no  time  to 
lose,  as,  when  once  the  King's  absence  was  discovered, 
it  would  be  fatal  to  be  left  a  hostage  in  the  hands 
of  the  infuriated  people  ;  and  Monsieur  summoned 
d'Avaray  at  six  o'clock  on  Friday  morning.  "  Must 
we  be  ready  to  start  ?  "  asked  the  latter  as  he  entered. 
u  Yes,"  answered  Monsieur  ;  "  on  Monday." 

There  was  much  to  be  considered,  the  first  and  most 
difficult  point  being  that  of  egress  from  the  Luxem- 
bourg, and  about  this  d'Avaray  was  much  puzzled  and 
agitated.  Monsieur  was  able,  however,  to  tell  him  of 
a  private  room  leading  out  of  the  Royal  bedchamber, 
and  communicating  with  the  great  Luxembourg  Palace, 
where  none  of  the  National  Guard  were  posted.  By 
this  little-known  way  Monsieur  often  went  privately  to 
hear  Mass  ;  but  his  gaolers  had  never  suspected  its 
existence.  It  was  further  settled  that  as  owing  to 
Monsieur's  peculiar  walk,  it  would  not  be  safe  to 
allow  him  to  go  even  a  few  steps  on  foot  outside 
the  Luxembourg,  a  hired  carriage  must  be  waiting 
for  him  in  the  Palace  court.  The  next  difficulty 
was  to    obtain    a    passport,  and    d'Avaray  determined 

1  This  and  the  rest  of  the  account  of  Monsieur's  flight  are  taken  from 
Relation  d'un  Voyage  d  Bruxelles  et  a  Coblentz,  which  is  written  by 
himself 


8o  Louis  XVIII 

to  try  to  get  one  through  Lord  Robert  Fitzgerald. 
This  attempt  failed,  as  Lord  Robert  said  he  could 
only  provide  passports  for  Englishmen,  so  d'Avaray 
was  obliged  to  resort  to  the  task  of  altering  an  old 
passport  which  the  ever-thoughtful  Madame  de 
Balbi  had  left  behind,  and  which  was  made  out  for 
Monsieur  and  Mademoiselle  Foster,  and  dated  the 
"  23  avril."  After  much  careful  scratching,  which 
was  a  difficult  process,  as  the  paper  was  thin,  the 
"23  avril"  was  altered  to  the  "13  juin,"  and  the 
passport  was  made  out  to  Monsieur  and  Mademoiselle 
Foster.  Blots  were  then  sprinkled  copiously  over  the 
back  of  the  document  to  hide  the  marks  where  the 
paper  had  been  submitted  to  the  manipulation  of 
the  penknife  ;  but  it  was  decided  that,  even  with  these 
precautions,  it  would  hardly  be  safe  for  the  doctored 
manuscript  to  be  inspected  by  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  Monsieur  and  d'Avaray  therefore  resolved  to 
pretend  that,  being  Englishmen,  they  were  not  well 
acquainted  with  the  necessary  formalities,  and  to  trust 
that  the  authorities  would  be  satisfied  with  this  excuse, 
and  would  make  no  further  enquiries. 

The  next  question  was  that  of  the  route,  and  it 
was  settled  that  as  the  northerly  road  by  Douai  and 
Orchies  was  the  safer,  it  had  better  be  left  to  Madame, 
and  that  Monsieur  should  take  an  easterly  direction,  and 
should  travel  by  Soissons,  Laon,  and  Maubeuge,  to 
Mons.  Monsieur  was  to  be  accompanied  by  his  valet, 
and  d'Avaray  by  his  English  servant  Sayer,  who  was 
not,  however,  to  be  told  the  secret  of  the  identity  of 
his  master's  travelling  companion. 

The  few  days  before  the  start  were  full  of 
anxiety.  Rumours  were  in  the  air  of  the  proposed 
escape  of  the  Royal  Family,  wild   stories  were  afloat, 


From  an  engraving  by  W.  Greatbatch. 

MADAME    ELIZABETH, 
p.  80] 


Farewells  8 1 

telling  of  plots,  evasions,  foreign  interference  ;  good 
patriots  were  excited  and  alarmed  ;  and  the  only 
possible  defence  was  an  unmoved  countenance  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  falsehoods.  What  else  could  be 
done  ?     Life  itself  was  at  stake. 

In  the  midst  of  the  passions  raging  everywhere,  it 
is  pleasant  to  read  of  Madame  Elizabeth's  demeanour 
when  Monsieur  went  on  the  last  evening  he  would 
spend  in  France  for  many  years,  to  see  her  at  the 
Tuileries,  and  to  tell  her  of  his  projected  departure. 
a  I  found  her  quiet,  resigned  to  God's  will,  contented, 
but  without  manifestations  of  joy — as  calm,  in  a  word, 
as  though  she  had  known  of  the  scheme  for  a  year." 
She  kissed  her  brother  tenderly,  and  said,  "  You  are 
religious;  let  me  give  you  a  relic,  it  cannot  fail  to 
bring  you  happiness."  She  then  discussed  the  situation 
with  the  utmost  calmness,  and  with  a  reasonableness 
which  excited  Monsieur's  intense  admiration.  His  last 
recollection  of  that  saintly  sister  was  to  be  a  pleasing 
one. 

The  Queen,  to  whom  he  paid  his  next  visit,  was 
terribly  agitated  ;  and  when  he  went  to  kiss  her,  cried  : 
"  Be  careful  not  to  make  me  break  down ;  people 
must  not  see  that  I  have  been  crying  !  " 

The  King,  Queen,  Monsieur,  Madame  Elizabeth, 
and  Madame  d'Angouleme  had  supper  together,  and 
Monsieur  at  any  rate  was  cheerful,  as,  with  his  usual 
optimism,  and  with  the  curious  want  of  realisation  of 
the  gravity  of  the  situation  which  he  shows  in  his 
account  of  the  affair,  he  was  sure  that  the  whole  party 
would  meet  again  in  a  few  days  in  some  place  of 
safety.  The  situation  was  more  tragic  for  the  unfor- 
tunate King  and  Queen,  who,  besides  being  haunted 
with  apprehensions  as  to  safety,  were  agitated   with  a 

6 


82  Louis  XVIII 

thousand  doubts  and  fears  about  the  wisdom  of  the 
step  they  were  taking,  by  which  it  was  possible  that 
they  might  dethrone  themselves  and  deprive  their  son 
of  the  crown.  Madame  Elizabeth's  gentle  faith  and 
confidence  must  have  been  of  great  comfort  at  this 
terrifying  juncture,  when  the  fate  of  each  member  of 
the  family  trembled  in  the  balance,  depending  on  what 
the  fortune  of  the  next  few  hours  would  bring  forth. 

Monsieur  left  the  Tuileries  before  eleven,  hoping  in 
this  way  to  escape  the  Due  de  Levis,  who  generally 
accompanied  him  back  to  the  Luxembourg  in  the  even- 
ing. Unfortunately,  the  Duke  was  already  waiting  ; 
and  Monsieur,  who  usually  talked  with  him  for  some 
time  before  he  went  to  bed,  could  only  ensure  his 
departure  by  saying  that  he  had  slept  very  badly  the 
night  before,  and  beginning  to  undress.  Monsieur  once 
in  bed  and  his  curtains  drawn,  the  first  valet  went  out  to 
undress  himself,  before  occupying  a  bed  in  his  master's 
room.  His  nightly  toilette  was  not  a  long  business,  so 
as  soon  as  the  door  had  closed  behind  him,  Monsieur 
jumped  out  of  his  fourpost  bed,  drew  the  curtains 
carefully  round  it  again,  lit  a  candle,  and  went  into 
the  sitting-room  which  led  to  the  little  room  com- 
municating with  the  Grand  Luxembourg.  There  the 
faithful  d'Avaray  awaited  him,  after  having  been  terribly 
alarmed  by  his  failure  to  turn  the  key  in  the  lock,  and 
much  relieved  when  he  found  that  the  difficulty  was 
caused  by  the  fact  that  in  his  agitation  he  was  trying 
to  force  it  in  the  wrong  direction.  On  a  chair  were 
the  black  curled  wig,  the  large  round  hat  decorated  with 
an  enormous  tricolour  cockade,  the  blue  coat  buttoned 
up  the  middle  and  adorned  with  red  lapels  and  gold 
buttons,  the  large  white  tie  and  the  brown  gloves, 
which  were  to   give   Monsieur    the    appearance    of  an 


Flight  83 

English  gentleman.  In  his  pocket  was  a  burnt  cork 
with  which  to  darken  his  eyebrows.  But  where  were 
his  stick,  and  the  second  snuff-box  he  had  intended 
to  take  with  him  ?  He  had  left  them  in  his  bedroom  ; 
and  it  was  difficult  for  d'Avaray  to  persuade  him  not  to 
return  for  them. 

Meanwhile,  Madame,  who  was  certainly  treated  with 
scant  ceremony,  had  been  disturbed  in  bed  by  Madame 
Gourbillon's  announcement  that  the  King  and  her 
husband  had  given  orders  that  she  was  to  leave  France 
at  once !  Apparently  she  was  docile  ;  and  when 
d'Avaray,  on  the  way  down,  went  to  see  if  she  was 
still  in  her  apartments,  she  had  gone,  and  the  hired 
carriage  for  her  use  was  standing  in  the  court  of  the 
Luxembourg  opposite  to  that  destined  for  her  husband. 

The  Prince  was  like  a  schoolboy  on  a  holiday  ; 
and  he  and  d'Avaray,  in  their  joy  of  getting  out  of  the 
Palace  without  interference,  sang  in  duet  the  chorus 
of  a  popular  topical  song  :  "  Ca  va  bien,  ca  prend  bien, 
ils  ne  se  doutent  de  rien."  Near  the  Pont-Neuf  they 
found  their  travelling  carriage  waiting  for  them  ;  and 
drawing  up  in  a  small  street,  left  the  hired  convey- 
ance and  walked  to  it,  even  for  this  short  distance 
d'Avaray  considering  it  necessary  to  beg  the  Prince  not 
to  waddle,  as  he  feared  that  his  peculiar  walk  would 
betray  him.  The  Prince,  d'Avaray,  and  Sayer  got 
inside  the  carriage,  Peronnet  mounted  one  of  the  horses, 
d'Avaray,  assuming  an  English  accent,  told  the  coach- 
man to  drive  to  Bourget,  and  the  journey  began  in 
real  earnest.  At  the  Pont-Neuf  they  were  passed  by 
a  post-carriage,  which  to  d'Avaray's  dismay  repassed 
them  at  the  Porte  Saint-Martin,  and  thinking  that  this 
must  be  another  member  of  the  Royal  Family  who  was 
going  by  the  same  route,  and  would  therefore  dispute 


84  Louis  XVIII 

the  horses  at  the  stopping-places  and  arouse  suspicion, 
he  inveighed  to  himself  fiercely  about  the  folly  of 
Princes,  who  spoil  the  best-laid  plans  in  the  world  by 
refusing  to  confide  in  each  other.  Monsieur  divined 
his  anguish  ;  but  in  the  presence  of  Sayer  could  not 
relieve  his  mind  by  telling  him  that  the  other  carriage 
would  branch  off  at  Bourget,  and  that  it  contained 
Madame  and  Madame  Gourbillon. 

Everything  on  the  journey  was  new  and  delightful 
to  Monsieur  ;  and  he  describes  the  smallest  incidents, 
such  as  chance  conversations  with  wayfarers  and  inn- 
keepers, with  a  minuteness  which  is  astonishing,  till  we 
remember  that  the  narrator  is  an  eighteenth-century 
Prince,  who  had  never  before  come  in  contact  with  the 
world  on  equal  terms.  The  question  of  food  is  of 
great  importance  to  him,  and  we  are  reminded  of  the 
fact  that  all  the  Royal  Family  except  Monsieur  used  to 
come  and  dine  with  their  aunts  without  notice,  but  that 
the  Princesses  asked  in  his  case  to  be  told  beforehand, 
as  he  was  so  particular  about  his  dinner  that  it  was 
necessary  to  prepare  special  dishes  for  him.  A  note  of 
true  feeling  such  as,  curiously  enough,  is  not  roused  by 
anxiety  as  to  his  own  or  his  family's  safety,  sounds  in 
Monsieur's  remark  at  Marche  when  he  thinks  he  has 
arrived  at  an  hotel  where  he  has  heard  the  food  is 
excellent,  and  finds  instead  that  he  is  at  an  old  officer's 
house.  "  This  is  a  cruel  damper  to  me,  as  I  distrust 
the  meals  of  friends.  I  cast  a  melancholy  look  on 
d'Avaray  and  found  his  face  as  long  as  my  own." 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Monsieur  was 
a  wit,  who  prided  himself  on  looking  at  everything  from 
a  jocose  point  of  view,  and  that  this  characteristic 
helped  him  to  preserve  serenity  in  the  midst  of  a 
life   of  catastrophe  and   disappointment.     There   is   no 


The  Journey  85 

doubt,  however,  that  his  flippant  attitude  rather 
alienates  our  sympathy,  and  perhaps  partly  accounts 
for  the  Prince's  want  of  general  popularity,  in  spite  of 
his  many  admirable  qualities.  The  effect  of  this  levity 
is  specially  unpleasing  when  united  to  a  sentimentality 
which,  though  somewhat  a  fashion  of  the  day,  is  also 
strongly  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  which  leads  him 
to  refer  constantly  to  d'Avaray — for  whom,  to  his  credit, 
he  felt  undying  gratitude  and  affection — as  "  my  dear 
d'Avaray,"  and  to  say  that  whatever  fate  Providence 
had  in  store  for  him  she  could  never  take  from  him  as 
much  as  she  had  given  in  granting  him  "  such  a  friend 
as  his  dear  d'Avaray,"  who  was  more  to  him  than 
himself. 

As  the  journey  was  successful,  it  was  not  fruitful  in 
incident.  The  English  accent  assumed  by  Monsieur 
and  d'Avaray  stood  them  in  good  stead  everywhere  ; 
and  Sayer,  the  English  servant,  assured  them  that 
every  one  thought  they  were  foreigners.  Sometimes 
the  postilion  who  conducted  them  from  one  stopping- 
place  to  another  did  his  duty  well,  sometimes  he  did  it 
badly  ;  and  it  gave  Monsieur  infantile  pleasure  to  think 
that  he  could  tell  from  the  appearance  of  each  whether 
he  would  be  a  good  guide  or  not.  Also  it  enlivened 
the  way  and  was  worthy  of  record,  that  when  a  postilion 
was  specially  incompetent,  Monsieur  nicknamed  him 
the  President  of  the  Jacobin  Club  at  the  town  to  which 
he  was  conducting  them. 

The  only  serious  contretemps  that  befell  the  fugitives, 
was  the  discovery  at  Soissons  that  a  felloe  of  one  of  the 
wheels  was  broken.  At  first  the  blacksmith  said  that 
a  new  felloe  must  be  made ;  and  this  would  have 
necessitated  a  stoppage  of  two  hours  and  a  half.  As 
it  was  then  half-past  eight  in  the  morning,  and  messen- 


86  Louis  XVIII 

gers  were  doubtless  carrying  the  news  of  the  Royal 
flight  in  every  direction,  any  delay  was  most  dangerous  ; 
and  Monsieur  and  d'Avaray  found  it  difficult  to  dis- 
semble their  anxiety  before  the  crowd  of  spectators 
who  had  assembled  to  watch  the  proceedings.  However, 
a  brilliant  idea  occurred  to  d'Avaray  ;  and  he  proposed 
that  the  broken  felloe  should  be  enclosed  in  a  rim 
of  iron,  which  would  be  a  speedy  means  of  mending 
the  wheel,  even  if  only  in  temporary  fashion.  This  the 
blacksmith  consented  to  do,  though  he  doubted  whether 
the  repair  would  last  out  the  journey. 

While  he  was  engaged  on  his  work  Monsieur  was 
relieved  of  a  great  anxiety.  On  the  way  to  Soissons  he 
had  missed  the  relic  given  him  by  Madame  Elizabeth, 
and  though  affecting  the  philosophy  then  in  vogue,  he 
was  decidedly  superstitious.  "  The  loss  tormented  me 
greatly,"  he  says.  However,  being  alone  in  the  carriage 
while  d'Avaray  went  into  the  inn  to  write  letters,  he 
happened  to  look  into  a  portfolio  his  friend  had  left 
behind  him  ;  and  there,  to  his  surprise  and  joy,  he 
found  the  missing  relic.  Monsieur  adds,  with  an 
evident  sense  of  supernatural  interposition  in  the 
matter,  that  d'Avaray  assured  him  that  he  had  no 
recollection  of  having  put  the  relic  into  his  portfolio. 
The  little  image  must  have  acquired  additional  value 
later  on,  when  Monsieur  realised  that  it  was  the  last 
gift  of  a  much-loved  sister,  whom  on  earth  he  was 
destined  never  to  see  again. 

At  one  point  in  the  tiring,  jolting  journey,  d'Avaray 
became  strangely  silent  and  depressed,  and  Monsieur 
was  puzzled  at  his  sudden  loss  of  spirits,  till  he  dis- 
covered that  the  fatigue,  anxiety,  and  terrible  shaking 
d'Avaray  was  enduring  had  started  some  old  mischief 
in  his  lung,  and  that  he  was  spitting  blood.     Repose 


Arrival  at  Mons  87 

and  quiet  were  necessary  conditions  for  cure,  but  under 
the  circumstances  they  were  absolutely  unattainable. 
However,  fortunately  the  invalid  became  better  as  the 
journey  proceeded.  A  new  sensation  was  provided  by 
the  postilion's  declaration  that  it  was  impossible  to  drive 
that  night  as  far  as  Mons,  an  opinion  which  Monsieur 
only  altered  by  a  gift  of  three  "  guinees,"  reinforced  by 
a  thrilling  story  of  a  sick  sister  left  at  Soissons,  for 
whom  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  fetch  a  doctor 
from  Mons  without  delay. 

At  last  they  arrived  at  Mons,  and  were  out  of 
French  territory  ;  but  before  this  Monsieur  had 
snatched  the  infamous  tricoloured  cockade  out  of  his 
hat,  and,  quoting  verses  in  his  usual  fashion,  had  handed 
it  to  his  friend  to  be  kept  for  ever,  as  Christopher 
Columbus  had  wished  to  keep  his  chains.  They  were 
now  within  measurable  distance  of  safety  and  of  a 
night's  rest  ;  and  a  polite  discussion  began  as  to  who 
should  occupy  the  bed,  in  the  probable  case  of  there 
being  but  one. 

This  argument  occupied  the  time  till  they  arrived  at 
the  outskirts  of  Mons,  and  stopped  at  a  miserable  inn, 
where  Monsieur  left  the  carriage  for  the  first  time  for 
twenty-four  hours,  and  found  his  legs  so  stiff  that  he 
could  hardly  stand.  His  first  action  was  to  kneel  down 
and  thank  God  for  his  safety.  Arriving  in  the  town 
itself,  he  without  hesitation  announced  his  name  and 
title,  and  said  that  he  intended  to  go  to  the  Hotel 
Couronne-Imperiale.  However,  the  troubles  of  the 
fugitives  were  not  even  then  over,  for  the  landlord, 
not  apparently  impressed  by  Monsieur's  Royal  titles, 
declared  that  he  had  no  available  room  for  the  travellers. 
They  were  beginning  to  feel  extremely  depressed, 
when    a    woman's    voice,    which    Monsieur    at    once 


88  Louis  XVIII 

recognised  as  that  of  Madame  de  Balbi,  was  heard 
asking  eagerly  from  upstairs,  "  Is  it  you,  Monsieur 
d'Avaray?"  At  the  welcome  sound  of  these  well- 
known  accents  they  left  the  carriage,  and  were  soon 
regaling  themselves  with  a  supper  of  cold  chicken  and 
claret  provided  by  the  thoughtful  lady.  She  insisted 
on  vacating  her  bed  in  favour  of  Monsieur,  d'Avaray 
was  established  in  her  maid's  room,  and  for  the  "  first 
time  for  twenty  months  and  a  half,"  says  the  Prince — 
and  the  remark  shows  the  strain  he  had  endured — 
"  I  went  to  bed  without  dreading  that  I  should  be 
awakened  by  some  scene  of  horror." 

Next  morning  Fersen,  one  of  the  Queen's  most 
devoted  adherents,  brought  the  news  that  the  Royal 
Family  had  arrived  at  Bondi,  and  Monsieur's  heart 
was  full  of  joy,  as  he  was  certain  that,  once  out  of  Paris, 
they  would  be  in  safety.  During  the  afternoon  he 
received  visits  from  the  Austrian  officers  and  from  some 
French  visitors  who  were  in  the  town,  and  later  in  the 
day  he  and  d'Avaray  travelled  to  Namur,  where  they 
were  astonished  to  hear  nothing  further  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  King  and  Queen,  and  as  Monsieur  felt 
anxious,  he  despatched  a  messenger  to  the  Commandant 
of  Luxembourg  to  ask  for  news.  Next  day,  on  their 
way  from  the  town  of  Marche,  they  were  met  by  the 
sad  tidings  of  the  arrest  of  the  Royal  Family  at 
Varennes,  and,  feeling  too  miserable  to  continue  their 
journey,  they  at  once  returned  to  the  town.  There 
Monsieur  heard  the  details  of  the  sad  affair  ;  and  at 
first  wondered  whether  it  were  not  his  duty  to  return 
to  Paris.  After  a  little  reflection,  however,  he  wisely 
decided  that  he  would  do  no  good  to  his  family  by 
sharing  their  fate,  and  would  only  risk  his  own  life  and 
that  of  his   faithful  friend  d'Avaray,  who   had   sworn 


Safety  89 

never  to  leave  him.  He  had  intended  to  go  on  to 
Liege,  but  the  country  was  disturbed,  and  the  route 
passed  near  the  French  frontier  ;  so  he  returned  to 
Namur,  where  he  found  Madame,  who  felt  as  much 
indebted  to  Madame  Gourbillon  for  her  safe  arrival  as 
did  her  husband  to  d'Avaray. 

Monsieur  now  determined  to  go  on  to  Brussels  to 
meet  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who  arrived  there  shortly 
after  him,  and  by  whom  he  was  greeted  with  the 
utmost  affection.  Monsieur  speaks  of  his  brother  in 
the  highest  terms.  "  Far,"  he  says,  "  from  being  angry 
after  all  the  trouble  he  had  taken,  to  see  a  colleague 
arrive  who  might  deprive  him  of  part  of  the  glory, 
he  was  most  anxious  to  tell  me  everything,  to  help  me, 
to  bring  me  forward,  to  make  me  of  consequence  ; 
in  a  word,  it  was  not  a  brother  I  found  in  him,  it  was 
a  most  tender  son."  The  glory  which  the  Comte 
d'Artois  obligingly  shared  with  Monsieur  may  not 
appear  to  the  onlooker  to  have  been  of  dazzling 
effulgence  ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  in  spite  of 
occasional  disagreements,  the  brothers  were  at  this 
time  tenderly  attached  to  each  other,  and  that  many 
of  the  mistakes  made  by  the  Comte  de  Provence,  may 
be  traced  to  the  influence  of  the  strong-willed  and 
prejudiced  Comte  d'Artois. 

Monsieur  stayed  eight  days  at  Brussels,  and  says 
that  they  were  the  busiest  he  had  ever  passed.  The 
Emperor  Leopold  II  was  in  Italy,  but  Monsieur  at 
once  implored  the  Archduchess  Marie  Christine, 
Leopold's  and  Marie  Antoinette's  sister,  to  send  troops 
into  France  to  rescue  the  King  and  Queen.  The 
Archduchess  was  much  agitated  and  troubled  about  her 
sister's  safety,  but  she  hesitated  to  embark  on  war  with- 
out Leopold's  permission,  and  by  July  4th,  when  the 


90  Louis  XVIII 

Emperor  returned  from  Padua,  it  was  too  late  for  rescue 
— the  French  Royal  Family  was  closely  confined  in  Paris. 

Monsieur  was  most  anxious  to  be  invested  with  the 
powers  of  Regent,  a  proposition  which  had  apparently 
been  mooted  by  Louis  XVI  before  the  flight  to 
Varennes,  but  which  the  King  now  refused  to  endorse, 
insisting,  moreover,  on  making  use  of  the  Baron  de 
Breteuil  as  confidential  agent  to  the  European  Powers, 
instead  of  confiding  his  secrets  to  his  brothers. 

Monsieur,  however,  was  full  of  his  own  importance 
at  this  time.  "  Placed  suddenly,"  he  remarks,  "at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  greatest  machines  which  have  ever 
existed,  it  was  not  only  necessary  to  make  it  work, 
but  also  to  learn  what  had  already  happened,  as  I  had 
known  nothing  in  my  prison,  and  must  use  the  experi- 
ence of  the  past  in  connection  with  the  present." 

For  the  chronicler  living  long  afterwards  and  in 
possession  of  all  the  facts,  it  is  easy  to  object  that  had 
the  "  machine  "  been  allowed  to  remain  inactive,  many 
lives  would  have  been  saved,  and  Monsieur's  future 
course  would  not  have  been  heavily  weighted  by  the 
indignant  cry  of  disappointed  friends  who  clamoured 
for  rewards  for  having  risked  their  lives  and  honour  in 
his  service,  and  of  furious  patriots  who  never  forgave 
him  for  allying  himself  with  the  enemies  of  his  country. 
To  Monsieur,  however,  his  duty  was  clear,  and  he  was 
happy  to  find  himself  working  for  the  first  time  in  an 
independent  position  ;  was  strong,  too,  in  the  intention 
of  returning  to  France  in  triumph  at  the  end  of  a  few 
months,  after  having  delivered  his  misguided  country 
from  the  horrors  of  anarchy,  and  restored  to  it  the 
blessings  of  the  Bourbon  Government.  Legitimacy 
was  a  religion  to  him,  France  and  the  Bourbons  were 
inseparable  ;  a  short  convulsion,  an  outbreak  of  rebel- 


Monsieur's  Views  91 

lious  wickedness,  and  the  nation  would  return  penitent, 
to  be  punished,  purged,  and  then  graciously  pardoned 
by  a  paternal  King.  If  Monsieur  were  the  instrument 
to  bring  about  this  happy  change,  surely  a  seat  in  the 
Council  would  at  least  be  granted  to  him,  and  his 
influence  would  outweigh  that  of  the  Austrian  Queen 
who  thwarted  his  ambitions  at  every  turn. 

On  July  3rd,  Monsieur  and  the  Comte  d'Artois  moved 
to  Liege  ;  on  the  4th  they  went  to  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
where  they  met  Monsieur's  old  friend  and  correspondent 
Gustavus  III  of  Sweden,  who  raised  their  spirits  by 
assurances  of  his  devotion  to  the  Royal  cause  in  France, 
and  declarations  that  he  would  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  League  to  fight  the  Revolution.  After  two 
days  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  they  moved  on  to  Bonn,  and 
on  the  7th  they  arrived  at  Coblentz,  the  first  rallying 
point  of  the  Emigres,  who  were  for  the  next  few  years 
to  be  the  perplexity,  annoyance,  sometimes,  indeed,  the 
laughing-stock  of  Europe. 

The  inn  at  Liege  was  crowded,  and  Monsieur  was 
obliged  to  share  a  room  with  d'Avaray.  He  says  : 
"  This  circumstance  caused  me  real  pleasure,  as  it  re- 
minded me  of  a  time  not  long  ago  when,  travelling 
nearly  in  the  same  country,  we  existed  alone  one  for 
the  other  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

Monsieur  never  forgot  his  gratitude  to  d'Avaray, 
who,  ugly,  delicate,  and  of  only  ordinary  intelligence, 
was  to  be  his  faithful,  disinterested  friend  for  many 
years,  was  only  to  leave  him  when  forced  by  failing 
health  to  seek  a  warmer  climate  than  England,  and,  dying 
at  Madeira,  was  to  the  end  to  be  the  recipient  of  the 
confidences  and  affection  of  the  master  to  whom  he  had 
sacrificed  his  life,  and  whose  triumphal  return  to  France 
he  was  never  destined  to  see. 


CHAPTER    VI 

Arrival  at  Coblentz— Description  of  town — Schonbornlust — The  Elector 
— Monsieur's  position — Coblentz  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Ancien 
Regime — Life  there — Calonne— Society — Madame  de  Balbi — Queen 
of  Coblentz — Quarrels  between  her  and  d'Avaray — Political  in- 
trigues— Monsieur's  levity — Marie  Antoinette  and  the  King — Their 
distrust  of  the  Princes — Their  policy — Dissensions — Distress  at 
Coblentz — Changes  in  Europe — War. 

ON  July  7,  1 79 1,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the 
Comte  de  Provence  arrived  at  Coblentz,  where 
the  Comte  d'Artois  was  already  established,  and  was 
received  with  the  utmost  affection  and  delight  by  his 
mother's  brother,  the  Elector  of  Treves,  who,  after 
showing  his  nephews  honour  by  preparing  a  brilliant 
reception  for  them  in  the  town,  welcomed  them  himself 
outside  it  at  the  entrance  of  the  Chateau  of  Schon- 
bornlust, which  he  had  placed  at  their  disposal. 

Schonbornlust  was  a  vast  building,  and  Monsieur, 
who  as  we  know  appreciated  a  sumptuous  lodging, 
took  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  right  wing, 
Madame  and  her  suite,  including  the  Comtesse  de 
Balbi,  occupied  the  first  floor  of  the  left  wing,  and 
the  Comte  d'Artois  took  up  his  abode  on  the  second 
floor.  The  cost  of  the  Princes'  establishment  was 
enormous,  and  much  of  it  was  defrayed  by  the  generous 
Elector.  They  had  in  their  service  twenty  cooks  ; 
and  although  their  uncle  provided  the  necessaries,  such 

as  bread,  wine,  and  meat,   the  expenses  of  their  table 

92 


Arrival  at  Colbentz  93 

alone  amounted  to  over  a  thousand  crowns  a  day  ;  and 
the  dishonesty  and  waste  were  so  great,  that  after  their 
departure  it  was  necessary  for  the  unfortunate  Elector 
to  spend  sixty  thousand  francs  in  replacing  .eight 
hundred  dozen  missing  napkins,  and  to  buy  a  fresh 
set  of  table  silver,  as  a  hundred  articles  had  dis- 
appeared. 

The  flight  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  the  arrival  at 
Coblentz  of  the  Comte  de  Provence,  had  given  an 
enormous  impetus  to  the  emigration  from  France  ;  and 
the  ugly  little  town  with  its  one  fine  square,  in  which 
was  the  Elector-Archbishop's  magnificent  residence, 
its  one  imposing  street,  and  elsewhere  nothing  but 
narrow,  dark  alleys  and  uncomfortable  houses,  was  in 
continual  confusion  from  the  ever-increasing  crowd 
of  fugitives  who  poured  into  it.  From  June  1 791  to 
February  1792  three  thousand  French  emigres  arrived, 
and  in  consequence  lodging  and  provisions  fetched 
exorbitant  prices,  and  servants  were  almost  impossible 
luxuries.  Money — at  least  at  first — poured  into  the 
town,  but  the  virtue  of  the  inhabitants  was  not  im- 
proved by  the  influx  of  highborn  idle  French  people 
tainted  with  the  immorality  of  the  Ancien  Regime, 
who  brought  with  them  valets  and  maidservants  with 
as  little  principle  as  their  masters  and  less  elegant 
reserve.  Gaming  and  duelling  became  the  fashion, 
and  nightly  brawls  were  rife,  to  the  distress  of  the 
good  Elector,  who,  being  an  ecclesiastic,  and  strongly 
opposed  to  the  irreligion  of  the  Revolution,  would 
have  preferred  less  laxity  of  morals  in  the  party  whose 
watchword  was — or  should  have  been — religion  and 
their  King. 

Monsieur   was   not   very  popular  with   the   Emigres, 
who  had  not  forgotten  their  indignation  at  his  degrading 


94  Louis  XVIII 

condescension  in  stooping  to  justify  himself  before 
the  Municipality  of  Paris  at  the  time  of  the  Favras 
plot,  and  who  considered  him  "  not  pure "  in  his 
politics,  an  opinion  he  quickly  divined,  and  treated 
in  his  usual  jesting  manner.  It  was  certainly  true 
that,  though  the  two  brothers  were  apparently  equally 
concerned  in  the  measures  taken  in  their  name,  there 
was  a  general  impression,  not  unsupported  by  facts, 
to  the  effect  that  Monsieur  lagged  behind  the  Comte 
d'Artois  in  thoroughness,  and  might  be  suspected  of 
leanings  to  the  popular  side.  The  horrors  which  took 
place  in  Paris,  and  the  influence  exercised  over  him 
by  the  Comte  d'Artois  and  the  other  Emigres  with 
whom  his  lot  was  thrown,  soon  divested  him  of 
sympathies  which,  if  developed,  might  possibly  have 
shortened  his  exile  from  France  ;  but  in  these  early 
days  they  existed,  and  secured  for  him  the  distrust  of 
the  Emigres. 

In  addition  to  this  cause  of  unpopularity,  his  enthu- 
siastic friendship  for  d'Avaray  subjected  him  to  hostile 
criticism,  and  his  manner,  which,  except  to  his  inti- 
mates, was  haughty,  and  his  strict  and  formal  observ- 
ance of  the  minutiae  of  etiquette,  caused  him  to  be 
disadvantageously  compared  with  the  Comte  d'Artois, 
who  with  an  unbending  and  unteachable  pride  in 
essentials,  combined  great  personal  charm. 

Meanwhile  Monsieur  busied  himself  with  the  task 
of  turning  Schonbornlust  into  a  second  Versailles,  and 
surrounded  himself  with  all  the  pomp  and  trappings  of 
Royalty  under  the  Ancien  Regime.  The  Royal  Mili- 
tary Establishment,  known  as  the  "  Maison  du  Roi," 
which  had  been  suppressed  in  1787  by  Louis  XVI, 
was  re-established  on  a  more  elaborate  scale  than  at 
Versailles,   and,  in   addition,   each  of  the  Princes   had 


Life  at  Colbentz  95 

his  own  military  establishment,  distinguished  by  the 
different  colours  of  its  gay  uniforms,  which  were  deco- 
rated tastefully  and  expensively  with  braiding,  crested 
buttons,  and  other  elegancies.  Recruiting  for  these 
Guard  regiments  went  on  throughout  the  provinces 
of  France,  and  each  fresh  arrival  in  Coblentz  was 
expected  to  enrol  himself  in  their  ranks.  A  large 
number  of  military  appointments  were  created  ;  and 
these  were  obtainable  not  by  merit,  but  through  the 
influence  of  the  influential  ladies  at  the  Coblentz 
Court,  reinforced  by  a  liberal  expenditure  of  money. 
Places  were  practically  sold  to  the  highest  bidders, 
if  they  possessed  the  necessary  aristocratic  qualifica- 
tions ;  and  were  in  consequence  often  acquired  by 
people  who  were  so  absolutely  incompetent,  that  they 
were  obliged  secretly  to  employ  instructors  to  coach 
them  in  at  least  the  more  elementary  of  their  duties. 
Fortunately,  the  only  responsibility  really  incumbent 
on  those  who  occupied  so-called  important  posts  in 
the  Guard,  was  to  wear  their  uniform  gracefully,  and 
to  pay  highly  for  a  military  title.  Naturally  enough 
discipline  was  lax  ;  and  in  consequence  there  were 
continual  disturbances,  and  an  importation  into  Co- 
blentz of  the  legal  methods  of  the  Ancien  Regime, 
even  including  "  Lettres  de  Cachet,"  which  at  the 
request  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  instigated  by  Calonne, 
were  issued  freely  by  the  Elector.  As  money  grew 
scarce,  several  needy  gentlemen  among  the  Emigres 
took  up  the  office  of  spies,  as  well  as  other  questionable 
means  of  providing  for  their  necessities,  crime  became 
prevalent,  and  during  eight  months  two  hundred 
French  gentlemen  were  confined  in  the  Coblentz 
equivalent  of  the  Bastille.1 

1  Histoire  Secrete  de  Coblence,  p.  49. 


96  Louis  XVIII 

Meanwhile,  at  Schonbornlust  the  Princes  pursued 
the  even  tenor  of  their  way — the  time  of  every 
action  being  arranged  strictly  according  to  the  laws  of 
etiquette.  At  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  "grand 
lever  "  took  place,  at  1 1  o'clock  Mass  was  heard,  the 
time  for  dejeuner  was  12,  and  dinner  was  served  at 
6  o'clock.  A  Council,  presided  over  by  the  Comte 
de  Provence,  took  place  every  day,  and  each  French 
arrival  at  Coblentz  was  bound  to  present  himself  to 
both  the  brothers  in  turn.  The  Comte  de  Provence 
generally  received  his  visitors  with  dignified  hauteur, 
his  welcome  being  confined  to  a  few  words  such  as 
"That  is  well,"  or,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you  again." 
The  Comte  d'Artois  was  more  affable,  and  therefore 
more  popular. 

Besides  these  fixed  events,  there  were  anxious  con- 
sultations, interviews  with  secret  agents,  letters  and 
despatches  to  read,  and — especially  in  the  case  of  the 
Comte  de  Provence — many  to  write  ;  in  fact  it  was 
a  busy  life,  though  fruitful  in  nothing  useful. 

The  chief  adviser  of  the  Princes,  the  all-powerful 
director  of  their  policy,  was  Louis  XVI's  ex-Minister, 
the  frivolous  and  unscrupulous  Calonne,  whose  ac- 
quaintance we  have  already  made,  and  to  whose  policy 
Monsieur  was  a  bitter  opponent  at  the  time  of  the 
Assembly  of  the  Notables.  It  may  seem  curious  that 
the  Prince  should  have  allowed  himself  to  be  led  by 
a  man  for  whom  he  must  have  felt  complete  distrust. 
We  must  remember,  however,  that  Monsieur  was  not 
a  strong  man,  and  that  one  of  the  most  interesting 
points  in  his  personality,  in  contradistinction  to  that 
of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  is  its  gradual  growth  and 
development  by  adversity. 

In    1 791,   in   spite    of  the   thirty-six    years   he   had 


Monsieur's  Inexperience  97 

lived,  the  Comte  de  Provence  was  a  wholly  unde- 
veloped character,  a  baby  in  knowledge  of  the  world, 
an  elegant  dilettante,  whose  life  had  been  spent  in  the 
guarded  precincts  of  the  drawing-room.  If  we  picture 
the  unfortunate  man  torn  from  his  position  like  a  snail 
from  its  shell,  and  sent  out  into  a  world  of  which  he 
knew  nothing,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  his  first  and  very 
natural  impulse  would  be  to  make  his  surroundings 
resemble  as  much  as  possible  the  environment  to  which 
he  was  used,  and  without  which  life  seemed  impossible. 
The  next  would  be  to  seek  for  advice  from  some  one 
who  appeared  to  be  better  informed  than  himself;  and 
he  would  find  this  person  in  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who 
had  always  led  a  less  carefully  guarded  life  than  he, 
and  was  now  in  advance  of  him  by  a  year's  experience 
of  this  new  and  perplexing  situation.  Besides,  the 
younger  brother  possessed  a  simplicity  and  directness 
which  would  invest  him  with  much  power  over  a 
subtle  undecided  man  who  had  not  yet  found  his 
way  among  unaccustomed  circumstances.  The  Comte 
d'Artois  invariably  knew  his  own  mind,  and  everything 
was  absolutely  clear  to  him — an  advantage  he  derived 
partly  from  the  fact  that  he  always  talked  himself,  and 
never  stopped  to  listen  to  any  one  whose  sentiments 
did  not  chime  in  with  his  own. 

At  the  side  of  the  Comte  d'Artois  was  Calonne,  who 
has  been  called  the  evil  genius  of  the  Revolution  :  "  a 
man  of  the  world  "  above  all  things  ;  brilliant,  inven- 
tive, full  of  expedients,  as  decided  in  his  opinions  about 
everything  as  was  the  Comte  d'Artois.  Monsieur 
had  his  own  party  ;  Jaucourt  headed  it  as  did  Calonne 
that  of  the  Comte  d'Artois  ;  and  between  the  partisans 
of  the  two  brothers  arose  constant  jealousies  and 
dissensions,  which  do  not,  however,  seem  to  have  dis- 

7 


98  Louis  XVIII 

turbed  their  affection  for  each  other.  The  Artois  party- 
was  decidedly  in  the  ascendant,  for  every  one  realised 
Calonne  to  be  all-powerful  ;  and  Monsieur  was,  as  we 
know,  unpopular.  Calonne  at  one  time  went  so  far  as 
to  abuse  him,  as  well  as  the  Austrian  Emperor,  in  a 
magazine  called  Journal  des  Princes,  freres  du  Roi,  and 
Monsieur  on  this  occasion  was  very  angry,  and  managed 
to  have  a  censor  appointed,  and  the  name  of  the  journal 
changed  to  Contre- Revolution. 

Life  at  the  Princes'  little  Court  was  gay  and  lively. 
Madame  Bertin,  the  great  Parisian  milliner,  had  accom- 
panied her  clients  into  exile  ;  and  though  there  were 
temporary  discomforts,  even  hardships,  to  be  endured 
in  the  way  of  lodging,  the  utmost  lightheartedness  pre- 
vailed, for  the  gay  throng  were  sure  that  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months  they  would  return  to  Paris,  and  would 
laugh  together  over  the  adventures  of  their  picnic 
expedition  to  Coblentz. 

There  were  many  gaieties  to  attend,  and  expensive 
and  varied  toilettes  were  necessary ;  so  that  people  spent 
as  much  as  they  had  done  in  Paris,  and  purses  began  to 
empty. 

On  Thursdays  and  Sundays  the  Elector  gave  a  grand 
reception  at  his  residence  in  the  town,  and  all  the 
French  in  Coblentz  were  invited.  Every  one  met  at 
seven  in  the  evening  in  the  great  gallery,  and  the 
Elector,  accompanied  by  the  two  Princes,  soon  made 
his  appearance,  and  went  the  round  of  his  guests. 
Later,  each  of  the  three  Royalties  presided  at  a  card- 
table  ;  while  sweet  drinks  were  offered  to  every  one, 
and  those  who  wished  to  pay  their  court  placed  them- 
selves near  the  card  tables,  the  men  standing  and  the 
women  sitting. 

On   Tuesdays,   the    Princes    gave    a   dinner   at   two 


Queens  of  the  Emigration  99 

o'clock,  and  held  a  reception  afterwards,  and  on  Satur- 
days it  was  the  turn  of  the  Grand  Chamberlain,  who 
had  a  beautiful  house  on  the  Moselle,  and  entertained 
all  the  German  society  and  many  of  the  French. 

Besides  these  elaborate  entertainments,  many  pretty 
women  had  salons  where  gaming  was  as  high,  love- 
making  as  serious  an  occupation,  and  intrigues  were  as 
prevalent  as  in  the  palmy  days  of  Versailles.  Pre- 
eminent among  the  salons,  were  those  of  the  ladies 
termed  the  three  Queens  of  the  Emigration,  the  Princess 
of  Monaco,  a  magnificent  blonde  who  had  been  for 
years  the  faithful  friend  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and 
was  eventually  to  become  his  wife,  Madame  de 
Polastron,  beloved  by  the  Comte  d'Artois,  a  gentle  and 
retiring  woman,  and,  last  but  not  least,  the  Comtesse 
de  Balbi,  the  only  woman  among  the  Emigres  who 
wielded  the  sceptre  of  political  power. 

The  Comte  de  Provence  might  be  overshadowed  by 
his  brother  and  by  Calonne  ;  but  in  the  social  world, 
his  favourite,  though  hated,  feared,  and  vilified,  reigned 
supreme.  Jaucourt  was  her  devoted  slave,  and  the 
Russian  Ambassador  Romanzof,  who  had  realised  the 
advantage  of  extreme  friendliness  with  her,  had  become 
the  most  important  man  in  Coblentz. 1  Monsieur  con- 
sulted her  on  all  political  matters,  and  she  delighted  in 
the  feeling  that  she  held  the  strings  of  many  intrigues 
in  her  delicate  fingers,  and  was  in  truth  the  Queen  of 
the  Emigration. 

In  the  house  near  Schonbornlust,  with  which  Mon- 
sieur had  presented  her,  she  gave  lively  little  suppers,  at 
which  he  was  always  present,  and  the  conversation  was 
most  sparkling. 

The  Comte  de  Neuilly,  one  of  the  gayest  and  most 

1  Daudet,  Histoire  de  C  Emigration,  vol.  i.  p    107. 


ioo  Louis  XVIII 

fashionable  of  the  young  Emigres,  and  a  great  friend 
of  Madame  de  Balbi's  son,  says :  "  Every  evening, 
after  the  Comtesse  de  Balbi  had  performed  her  duties 
to  Madame,  she  returned  home,  and  her  guests  began 
to  assemble.  But  first  she  changed  her  dress  ;  her 
hair  was  arranged  in  front  of  a  little  table  which  was 
brought  from  another  room  ;  her  dress  and  even  her 
chemise  was  put  on  in  our  presence  ;  it  was  the 
received  thing,  and  it  seemed  to  us  so  natural  that  we 
never  even  thought  about  it.  I  must  say  that,  in  spite 
of  pretty  quick  eyes,  I  never  saw  more  than  if  she  had 
had  ten  screens  round  her.  We  were  there,  Pire,  Balbi, 
and  I,  young  fellows  of  no  importance,  although  we 
wore  uniform,  and  were  already  men  ;  but  Monsieur 
was  also  present,  and  he  paid  no  more  attention  than  we 
did.  Generally,  he  remained  with  his  back  turned, 
seated  in  an  armchair  in  front  of  the  fireplace,  his 
hand  resting  on  his  crooked  stick,  the  shadow  of  which 
thrown  in  silhouette,  made  the  profile  of  Louis  XVI. 
He  had  a  habit  of  pushing  the  end  of  his  stick  into 
his  shoe.  During  Madame  de  Balbi's  toilette,  which 
hardly  lasted  ten  minutes,  the  conversation  pursued  its 
course.  It  continued  in  the  same  gay  familiar  tone, 
after  the  arrival  of  M.  d'Avaray,  of  the  Comte  de 
Verac,  and  of  the  very  small  number  of  guests  who 
were  admitted  to  these  evenings.  We  talked  of 
theatres,  music,  news  from  Paris,  songs,  nonsense, 
gossip.  Monsieur  told  anecdotes  to  perfection,  and 
knew  how  to  gloss  over  what  might  sometimes  be 
broad  in  them.  Games  were  played,  rhymes  were 
made,  sometimes  there  was  reading  aloud  .  .  .  occa- 
sionally we  had  to  make  verses,  and  his  Royal  Highness 
condescended  to  give  us  lessons  in  prosody."  1 
1  Reiset,  La  Comtesse  de  Balbi,  p.  228 


Madame  de  Balbi  at  Coblentz  101 

Madame  de  Balbi's  temper  was  as  imperious  and  as 
uncontrolled  as  ever  ;  she  was  jealous  of  anybody  and 
everybody  whom  she  suspected  of  influencing  Monsieur; 
so  she  naturally  became  bitterly  hostile  to  d'Avaray, 
and  did  not  scruple  to  make  herself  disagreeable  to  him. 
One  morning,  when  he  was  assisting  at  the  a  chemise 
blanche,"  the  same  ceremony  as  the  evening  one  already 
described,  she  did  her  best  to  rouse  his  temper  ;  and  at 
last  cried,  speaking  of  a  lady  to  whom  he  was  deeply 
attached  :  "  Do  not  talk  to  me  about  Madame  de.  .  .  . 
To  speak  candidly,  she  is  an  idiot  !  '  D'Avaray 
managed  to  keep  his  temper  and  to  answer  her  calmly; 
but  when  he  tried  to  defend  the  absent  lady,  Madame 
de  Balbi  became  so  furious  that  Monsieur  and  most  of 
those  who  were  present  thought  it  prudent  to  retire. 

The  next  day,  when  d'Avaray  presented  himself 
at  her  toilette,  she  burst  into  a  torrent  of  abuse,  to 
which  he  answered  that  he  was  sure  he  had  never 
spoken  to  her  without  observing  the  rules  of  politeness 
and  respect,  and  that  he  could  bring  forward  a  witness 
to  prove  this.  "  I  should  like  very  much  to  know 
who  it  is  who  would  dare  to  say  you  were  in  the 
right !  "  replied  the  Comtesse,  and  d'Avaray  answered 
promptly  and  triumphantly,  "  Monsieur  does." 

He  adds  :  "  A  volcano,  a  whirlwind  of  flames, 
tempest  and  thunder  are  not  more  violent  or  destruc- 
tive. The  tables,  the  chairs,  the  cap, — everything  in 
the  room  is  scattered  and  dispersed.  In  vain  the 
frightened  audience  try  to  resist  the  torrent." 

"  Horses,  horses  !  I  must  leave  at  once  ! '  cries 
the  furious  favourite,  tearing  about  like  a  mad  woman  : 
"  I  will  not  bear  such  an  affront  !  "  * 

This,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  the  possibly  exaggerated 
1  Reiset,  La  Comtesse  de  Balbi,  p.  246. 


io2  Louis  XVIII 

testimony  of  an  enemy,  but  the  picture  is  curious,  and 
is  worth  citing.  For  Coblentz  was  the  last  citadel  of  a 
dying  world,  the  world  where  life  for  a  Grand  Seigneur 
or  a  Grande  Dame  was  inexpressibly  delightful,  yet, 
where,  while  suavity  in  intercourse  was  a  fine  art,  what 
would  seem  to  us  familiar  impertinence  was  quite  per- 
missible in  a  great  lady.  Much  that  was  evil  was 
swept  away  by  the  Revolution,  many  dark  places  were 
cleansed,  many  monstrous  anomalies  righted,  yet, 
because  perhaps  of  its  strangeness,  there  is  haunting 
fascination  in  that  Ancien  Regime,  for  which  there  was 
now  no  resting  place  in  a  busy  world  yearning  for 
practical  values,  and  not  overburdened  with  reverence. 
The  Comte  de  Provence  seems  at  first  sight  to  be 
one  of  the  most  polished  pillars  of  conservatism ; 
scented,  artificial,  and  courtly,  he  moved  in  an  atmo- 
sphere of  stately  privilege  ;  yet  even  he,  because  of  a 
certain  liberality  of  mind  of  which  he  could  not  divest 
himself,  was  "  a  jacobin  "  in  the  eyes  of  the  thorough- 
going exponents  of  the  Ancien  Regime.  In  the  future, 
he  would  learn,  though  reluctantly,  to  fit  himself  to  the 
new  world,  and  would  become  the  wise  and  politic 
Louis  XVIII,  while  the  "  Emigre  '  proper  would  never 
gain  anything  from  experience,  but  on  his  return  to 
what  seemed  to  him  a  hopelessly  vulgarised  and  trans- 
mogrified France,  would  fight  a  despairing  battle  for 
his  unchangeable  creed  ;  and  though  he  could  not 
permanently  stem  the  flood  of  the  new  ideas,  would  at 
any  rate  succeed  in  hampering  the  Government  and  in 
bringing  it  eventually  to  ruin.  This  was  his  unfortu- 
nate side  ;  in  the  ascendant,  brave,  insouciant,  and 
dashing,  surrounded  by  what  he  loved,  we  look  on 
him  for  the  last  time  in  the  ugly  German  town  of 
Coblentz, 


Coblentz,  and  the  Ancien  Regime         103 

Meanwhile,  while  detailing  their  amusements,  we 
must  not  forget  the  fact  that  the  Princes  were  busily- 
engaged  in  political  intrigue,  with  the  object  of  rousing 
Europe  to  undertake  an  armed  intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  France.  Headed  by  the  Emigres,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  two  Princes,  the  Comte  de  Provence 
being  invested  with  the  title  and  powers  of  Regent, 
and  acting  in  the  name  of  the  captive  King — an  idea 
which  had  first  been  suggested  to  him  by  Mirabeau — 
France  was  to  be  besieged  by  an  Allied  Army  of 
European  Powers,  who  were  to  rescue  the  Royal 
Family,  re-establish  the  Ancien  Regime,  punish  the 
Jacobites,  and  chastise  yet  more  severely  the  "  mo- 
narchies"  or  moderates,  to  whom  the  thoroughgoing 
Emigres  bore  even  more  deadly  hatred  than  to  the 
Revolutionary  party. 

Vistas  of  power  as  respectively  Regent  and  Lieu- 
tenant-General  of  the  kingdom  floated  before  the  eyes 
of  both  the  Princes  ;  but  though  they  have  been 
bitterly  blamed  for  the  selfishness  of  their  policy,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  they  were  sincere  in  their  belief  that 
the  course  they  proposed  was  the  wise  one.  They 
evidently  considered  it  absolutely  impossible  that  the 
Revolutionary  party  would  ever  proceed  to  such  ex- 
tremities, that  they  would  dare  to  threaten  the  lives 
of  the  Royal  Family.  Unfortunately,  too,  they  felt 
a  not  altogether  unreasonable  contempt  for  Louis  XVI, 
whose  troubles  they  considered  to  be  greatly  of  his 
own  making  ;  and  a  certain  distrust  for  Marie  An- 
toinette, whom  they  credited  with  complete  devotion 
to  Austrian  interests.  They  therefore  refused  to  listen 
to  the  representations  of  the  unfortunate  King  and 
Queen  ;  and  persisted  in  believing  that  any  orders 
they  might  issue  were  given  under  coercion.     Follow- 


io4  Louis  XVIII 

ing  this  policy,  and  with  apparently  no  conception  of 
the  gravity  of  the  crisis,  or  the  perilous  position  of 
the  Royal  Family,  when  Louis  XVI  wrote  an  official 
letter  in  September  1 79 1  ordering  his  brothers  to 
return  to  Paris — an  order  which  it  must  be  allowed 
he  did  not  intend  them  to  obey — their  answer  was 
so  violent  that  the  Revolutionary  party  were  furious, 
and  the  unfortunate  Queen  wept,  and  cried  that 
the  King's  brothers  would  bring  the  Royal  Family 
to  destruction. 

Monsieur's  levity  at  this  time  was  certainly  aston- 
ishing, though  of  a  piece  with  the  tone  of  his  account 
of  his  escape  from  France.  On  December  6,  1791, 
he  received  an  important  communication  from  Paris. 
It  ran  as  follows  : 

"  Louis  Joseph  Stanislas  Xavier,  French  Prince.  The 
Assemblee  Nationale  requires  you  in  virtue  of  the 
French  Constitution,  Act  III,  chapter  11,  section  iii, 
article  1,  to  return  into  the  kingdom  within  two 
months  from  this  day.  Failing  this,  and  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  said  delay,  you  will  lose  your  eventual 
right  to  the  Regency." 

To  this  Monsieur  replied  :  "  Members  of  the 
French  Assembly  calling  itself  National.  Sane  reason 
requires  you,  in  virtue  of  Act  I,  chapter  1,  section  i, 
article  1  of  the  imprescriptible  laws  of  common  sense, 
to  return  to  your  senses  within  two  months  from  this 
day.  Failing  this,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  said 
delay,  you  will  be  supposed  to  have  abdicated  your 
right  to  the  quality  of  reasonable  beings,  and  will  be 
looked  on  as  violent  madmen,  fit  for  an  asylum." 

Thus  Monsieur  enjoyed  his  joke,  apparently  heedless 
whether  or  no  he  would  goad  to  dangerous  fury  the 
men  in  whose  hands  the  King  and  Queen  were  help- 


Monsieur  Defies  the  Republic  105 

less  captives.  That  he  had,  however,  no  conception 
of  the  gravity  of  the  crisis,  is  proved  by  a  letter  he 
wrote  to  Louis  XVI  towards  the  end  of  1791. 
"  Brother,"  he  says,  "  I  have  written  to  you  ;  but 
the  letter  was  sent  by  the  post,  and  I  could  tell  you 
nothing.  We  two  here  form  but  one  person  ;  our 
feelings,  principles,  and  ardour  in  serving  you  are 
alike.  If  we  are  addressed  by  those  people  "  [the  Con- 
stitutional party]  "  we  shall  not  listen  ;  if  by  you,  we 
shall  listen,  but  shall  go  straight  on  our  way  ;  so  if 
they  make  you  say  anything  to  us,  do  not  trouble 
yourself  about  it.  You  may  feel  quite  comfortable 
about  your  safety  ...  we  only  exist  to  serve  you  ; 
we  work  for  that  with  ardour,  and  everything  is  going 
well.  Even  our  enemies  have  too  much  interest  in 
your  preservation  to  commit  a  useless  crime  which 
would  complete  their  ruin." 1 

What  could  be  said  in  answer  to  such  a  letter  ? 
The  only  possible  course  for  the  captive  family  in 
Paris  was  to  ignore  the  doings  of  the  Princes.  "  It 
is  at  the  end  of  this  week,"  Marie  Antoinette  writes 
on  August  21,  1 79 1,  "  that  the  Charter  "  [the  document 
embodying  the  laws  of  the  new  Constitution  which 
the  King  was  required  to  sign]  "  will  be  presented  to 
the  King.  .  .  .  The  moment  is  terrible  ;  but  why  are 
we  left  in  total  ignorance  of  what  is  going  on  outside  ? 
It  is  at  present  necessary  to  follow  a  course  which 
will  inspire  confidence,  and  will  at  the  same  time 
baffle  and  overthrow  the  monstrous  affair  "  [the  Revo- 
lutionary Constitution]  "  which  it  is  necessary  to  adopt. 
For  this  reason  it  is  necessary  that  the  French,  especi- 
ally the  King's  brothers,  shall  remain  in  the  back- 
ground,  and   that   the   allied    Powers   shall   act   alone. 

1  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  V Emigration,  vol.  i.  p.  94. 


106  Louis  XVIII 

No  prayer,  no  reasoning  on  our  part  can  make  the 
Princes  do  this  ;  the  Emperor  must  insist  on  it,  that 
is  the  only  possible  way,  and  it  will  do  me  in  particular 
much  service.  You  yourself  know  the  evil  insinua- 
tions and  evil  designs  of  the  Emigres.  Cowards  ! 
After  having  abandoned  us,  they  wish  to  insist  that 
we  alone  shall  endanger  ourselves,  and  shall  serve  all 
their  interests.  I  do  not  accuse  the  King's  brothers. 
I  believe  their  hearts  and  intentions  to  be  pure  ;  but 
they  are  surrounded  and  directed  by  ambitious  people, 
who  will  ruin  them,  after  having  ruined  us  first."  ! 

The  King  and  Queen's  policy  throughout  this  time 
seems  to  have  been  to  deceive  the  Revolutionary  party 
by  the  King's  pretended  acceptance  of  the  Constitution, 
while  the  Emigres  were  kept  in  inaction  in  the  back- 
ground ;  partly  because  the  Queen  feared  that  any 
movement  on  their  part  would  implicate  her  and  the 
King  in  the  eyes  of  the  Revolutionary  party,  and 
partly  because  she  felt  an  intense  jealousy  of  them, 
and  a  distrust  of  their  intentions  towards  her,  so  that 
she  would  almost  have  preferred  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  Revolutionaries  to  putting  herself  in  the 
Emigres'  power. 

Marie  Antoinette's  plans  for  the  action  of  the 
foreign  Powers,  particularly  of  her  brother  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  varied.  When  she  felt  hopeful 
about  internal  affairs  she  only  asked  for  a  peaceful 
Congress  of  the  European  Powers,  but  when  matters 
seemed  desperate  she  at  once  begged  for  an  advance 
on  France  of  the  allied  armies  of  Europe.  This  step 
was  apparently  to  be  undertaken  ostensibly  against 
the  will  of  the  Royal  Family,  who  were  only  to 
throw  off  the  mask  and  proclaim  a  counter-Revolution 

1  Arneth,  Marie  Antoinette's  Letters  to  Joseph  II  and  Leopold  II, 


Marie  Antoinette's  Policy  107 

when  France,  or  at  least  the  Revolutionary  party,  was 
prostrate  before  the  enemy.  The  Comte  de  Provence, 
on  the  other  hand,  was,  as  we  know,  convinced  that 
it  was  necessary  for  the  Emigres  to  be  in  the  van  of 
the  attacking  army,  so  that  the  war  might  not  assume 
an  aspect  of  foreign  aggression,  but  that  of  a  protest 
of  Royalism  against  anarchism. 

The  difficulties  of  the  position,  and  the  horrors  of 
the  captivity  of  the  Royal  Family,  were  increased  by 
the  fact  that  even  in  the  Tuileries,  and  later  on  in  the 
Temple,  counsels  were  divided  ;  for  Madame  Eliza- 
beth took  the  side  of  her  younger  brothers,  in  whom 
she  felt  absolute  trust,  and  was  therefore  at  variance 
with  the  Queen,  who  complained  that  no  plans  could 
be  discussed  in  her  sister-in-law's  presence.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  enter  here  into  the  question  of  the  wisdom 
or  unwisdom  of  the  policy  pursued  by  the  King  and 
Queen  ;  but  one  thing  is  certain — that  it  was  a  policy 
which,  to  ensure  success,  demanded  the  utmost  secrecy, 
caution,  and  diplomacy  ;  and  it  is  impossible  not 
to  see  some  wisdom  in  Monsieur's  remonstrances 
a  little  later,  when  the  King,  after  promising  to  act 
in  conjunction  with  his  brothers,  had  to  their  intense 
indignation  sent,  unknown  to  them,  a  secret  political 
agent  to  St.  Petersburg,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
Princes'  envoy,  who  was  understood  to  represent  the 
Royal  cause  in  France,  was  already  at  the  Czarina's 
Court.  At  this  juncture  Monsieur  wrote  to  Marie 
Antoinette  as  follows  :  "  What  can  be  Monsieur  de 
Bombelles'  mission  ?  I  can  only  see  two  possible 
objects  ;  that  of  sharpening  the  Czarina's  zeal  for  the 
good  cause,  or  that  of  diminishing  it.  In  the  first 
case,  what  will  you  answer  to  the  Jacobins  who  will 
reproach  you  with  accepting  the  Constitution  publicly, 


io8  Louis  XVIII 

yet  working  to  overthrow  it  ?  And  if  they  bring 
forward  proofs  of  their  assertion  ?  .  .  .  Let  us  not 
imagine  such  a  thing  !      It  is  too  horrible." 

The  result  was  certainly  destined  to  be  horrible  ;  for 
Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette  eventually  paid  with 
their  lives  for  the  Jacobins'  discovery  of  their  double 
dealing  and  secret  intrigues.  Yet  what  were  they  to 
do  ?     The  situation  was  impossible. 

Moreover,  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  policy  of 
which  the  Queen  was  the  originator,  was  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  it  was  not  dependent  upon  herself  but 
on  the  foreign  Powers  ;  and  that  they,  being  naturally 
guided  by  their  own  interests,  were  not  disposed  to 
suit  their  movements  to  her  behests.  Unfortunately, 
no  one  was  anxious  to  fight  against  France  except  the 
Emigres  ;  and,  according  to  the  scheme  proposed  by 
the  King  and  Queen,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
keep  them  in  a  condition  of  quiescence.  To  do  this 
seemed  as  impossible  as  to  rouse  the  Powers  to 
action,  for  the  Princes  stirred  Europe  to  continual 
agitation  by  their  impulsive  doings.  They  wrote  to 
Catherine  II  of  Russia  begging  for  a  million  roubles, 
so  that  they  might  enlist  Swedes  and  Germans,  as  well 
as  fresh  French  regiments,  in  their  little  army.  They 
were,  moreover,  determined  that  one  of  the  two  brothers 
should  be  present  at  the  Conference  which  was  to 
take  place  at  Pilnitz,  between  the  King  of  Prussia  and 
Marie  Antoinette's  brother,  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
on  the  question  of  intervention  in  French  affairs. 
The  Comte  d'Artois,  as  thoroughly  untainted  with 
Revolutionary  uncleanness,  was  chosen  as  the  delegate 
of  the  Emigres  ;  and  arrived  incognito  at  Vienna,  to 
the  disgust  of  the  King  and  Emperor,  who  felt  obliged, 
however,  to  receive  him  with  cordiality.     Louis  XVI 


The  Pilnitz  Conference  109 

had  just  accepted  the  Constitution — by  his  own  free 
will,  the  Emperor  affected  to  believe — and,  in  spite  of 
the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  only 
result  of  the  Conference  was  an  extremely  vague 
document  to  the  effect  that  the  King  of  Prussia  and 
the  Emperor  of  Austria  considered  the  situation  of 
Louis  XVI  "  an  object  of  common  interest  to  all  the 
Sovereigns  of  Europe  ; '  and  that,  if  the  other  Powers 
would  join  them,  they  were  prepared  to  muster  their 
armies  and  to  prepare  for  war,  with  the  object  of 
re-establishing  monarchical  government  in  France. 

The  King  and  Emperor  would  promise  nothing 
more  definite  than  this,  in  spite  of  the  Comte  d'Artois' 
earnest  solicitations  ;  but  the  manifesto  was  received 
with  the  utmost  fury  in  France,  and  the  Revolutionaries 
were  urged  by  it  to  fresh  excesses. 

On  the  Comte  d'Artois'  arrival  in  Coblentz,  where 
Monsieur  was  waiting  in  the  utmost  anxiety  to  hear 
the  result  of  the  Conference,  the  Princes  consulted 
together,  and  managed  to  intensify  this  effect  in 
Paris,  by  most  unwisely  issuing  a  proclamation,  in  which 
they  appeared  to  believe  that  the  Pilnitz  promulgation 
meant  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  against  France  ; 
while  they  also  declared  that  the  King  had  only  signed 
the  Constitution  under  compulsion.  In  consequence 
of  this  imprudent  step,  the  Emperor  informed  the 
Princes  that  if  they  disseminated  manifestoes  differing 
from  the  Agreement  of  Pilnitz,  he  would  be  forced  to 
disavow  them. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1791,  the  Princes' 
position  at  Coblentz  became  deplorable.  Europe  set 
them  at  nought,  the  Great  Powers  refused  to  move  at 
their  bidding,  while  Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette 
tried  to  cajole   them   into  quiet  by  pretending  to  trust 


no  Louis  XVIII 

them,  and  putting  them  into  direct  communication 
with  Breteuil,  the  trusted  agent  of  the  Tuileries  in 
the  outside  world.  However,  to  the  Princes'  intense 
humiliation  and  indignation,  they  discovered  that 
Breteuil  had  orders  from  Louis  XVI  to  keep  many- 
matters  secret,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  expected  them 
to  confide  everything  to  him.  The  Princes  retaliated 
by  refusing  to  obey  the  King,  whom  they  affected  to 
consider  as  acting  under  coercion,  and  by  treating  his 
envoys  with  contempt  ;  while,  in  defiance  of  him,  they 
despatched  secret  agents  to  all  the  foreign  Courts,  and 
thus  kept  Europe  in  a  ferment.  The  Revolutionary 
Government  were  not,  however,  disposed  to  remain 
long  passive  under  this  continual  provocation.  The 
Assemblee  Legislative  had  now  taken  the  place  of 
the  Assemblee  Constituante,  and  orders  were  issued 
from  Paris  to  the  Elector  that  the  troops  at  Coblentz 
must  at  once  be  dispersed — an  order  the  Elector  of 
Treves,  terrified  at  a  possible  invasion  of  his  territory, 
was  obliged  to  pass  on  at  once  to  his  nephews. 

Meanwhile,  Emigres  crowded  out  of  France  ;  the 
palmy  days  of  prosperity  were  over  ;  distress  at  Cob- 
lentz became  acute  ;  and  during  the  winter  from  1 79 1 
to  1792  the  Princes  were  forced  to  watch  helplessly  the 
ever-increasing  sufferings  of  their  followers.  The  realities 
of  life  were  pressing  upon  the  Comte  de  Provence  ; 
and  though  his  pluck,  courage,  and  power  of  seeing 
everything  in  a  humorous  light  never  failed  him,  he 
began  physically  to  show  signs  of  the  strain  he  was 
enduring — a  strain  which  would  never  relax,  but  would 
press  on  him  increasingly,  till,  in  spite  of  his  gay  spirit 
and  serenity,  he  became  prematurely  old  ;  worn  out  by 
hardship,  trouble,  and  disappointment. 

Many    changes    had    taken    place    in    Europe.     On 


Distress  at  Coblentz  m 

March  i,  1792,  Marie  Antoinette's  brother,  the 
Emperor  Leopold  II,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Francis  II  ;  and  a  fortnight  later  Gustavus  III 
of  Sweden,  the  principal  ally  of  the  French  Monarchy 
in  Europe,  was  assassinated  at  a  masked  ball  at  Stock- 
holm. The  King  of  Sweden's  death  was  a  terrible 
shock  to  the  Princes — to  Monsieur  in  particular,  of 
whom  he  was  a  personal  friend.  However,  in  April 
the  Emigres  were  encouraged  by  the  important  news 
that  revolutionary  France  had  taken  up  an  offensive 
position,  and  that  Dumouriez  had  published  an  ulti- 
matum ordering  the  cessation  of  the  mustering  of 
troops  on  the  Austrain  frontier  ;  while  the  King  and 
Queen,  whose  position  was  now  almost  desperate, 
implored  the  help  of  their  nephew,  Francis  II. 

On  April  5  war  was  formally  declared  between 
France  and  the  allied  armies  of  Austria  and  Prussia  ; 
and  the  Elector  begged  his  nephews  to  quit  Treves 
and  to  move  to  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine. 

This  they  refused  to  do,  and  the  Elector  did  not 
press  the  matter  ;  for  he  was  certain,  as  they  were, 
that  France  would  be  beaten  by  the  Allies,  and  that 
the  Princes  would  return  to  their  country  in  triumph. 
Their  one  endeavour  now  was  to  insist  that  the  Emigre 
army  should  enter  France  with  the  Allies — should,  if 
possible,  form  the  vanguard  of  the  invading  force — and 
that  Monsieur  should  be  endued  with  the  title  and  powers 
of  Regent  of  the  kingdom.  Louis  XVI  still  wished  the 
Emigres  to  keep  themselves  apart  from  the  allied  armies, 
and  to  join  in  no  military  operations  ;  but  the  envoy 
who  proposed  this  to  the  Comte  de  Provence  and  the 
Comte  d'Artois  was  received  with  the  utmost  haughti- 
ness, and  the  Princes  were  indignant  at  the  proposition. 
The  Duke  of  Brunswick  was   to  be  Generalissimo  of 


in  Louis  XVIII 

the  allied  armies;  and  in  the  early  summer  of  1792, 
Monsieur  and  the  Comte  d'Artois  were  most  busily 
employed  in  preparing  to  receive  him  with  due  honour 
at  Coblentz,  and  in  making  their  own  military  prepara- 
tions. These  were  difficult,  as  hardly  a  third  of  the 
Emigre  army  were  provided  with  arms,  and  the  whole 
force  was  ragged,  hungry,  and  in  the  utmost  destitu- 
tion. Their  courage  was  high,  however,  for  they  were 
returning  to  their  own  country  ;  and  even  Monsieur 
and  the  Comte  d'Artois  did  not  appear  to  feel  dismay 
at  the  idea  that  foreign  troops  were  forcing  for  them 
the  entrance  to  France. 


CHAPTER     VII 

Campaign  against  France — The  Duke  of  Brunswick — The  Princes  with 
the  Army — Terrible  retreat — Arrival  in  Liege — Distress — Monsieur 
goes  to  Hamm — Hears  of  Louis  XVI's  execution — His  declara- 
tion—  Tokens  from  imprisoned  Royal  Family — Intrigues  and  ex- 
peditions— Monsieur  at  Verona — Rupture  with  Madame  de  Balbi 
—  His  letter  on  the  subject  to  Madame — Death  of  Louis  XVII 
— Monsieur  assumes  the  title  of  King — An  Englishman's  opinion 
of  him — He  is  forced  to  leave  Verona — Goes  to  Conde's  camp 
— His  attempted  assassination — Life  at  Blanckenburg. 

THE  beginning  of  the  campaign  was  marked  with 
disappointment,  for,  owing  to  Breteuil's  objec- 
tions, Monsieur  was  not  appointed  Regent,  in  spite  of 
Louis  XVI's  consent  and  the  apparent  approval  of  the 
Allies.  However,  the  army  of  Conde  and  that  of  the 
Princes  were  allowed  to  march  with  Brunswick's  forces, 
the  Comte  de  Provence,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  and  their 
12,000  men  being  among  the  Prussian  contingent. 

Before  starting,  the  Princes  went  to  Aix-la-Chapelle 
to  assist  at  the  crowning  of  Francis  II,  and  then  were 
present  at  the  gaieties  attendant  on  the  meeting  between 
him  and  the  King  of  Prussia  at  Mayence.  They  were 
in  the  highest  spirits — spirits  we  cannot  grudge  them, 
for  they  were  enjoying  the  last  gleam  of  prosperity 
which  was  to  visit  them  for  many  years.  The  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  however,  who  was  to  act  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  to  the  allied  armies,  soon  realised  the  utter 
uselessness  of  the  undisciplined,  unarmed,  unpaid,  and 
overservanted    battalions    of   the    Emigres,  and    began 

"3  8 


ii4  Louis  XVIII 

to  feel  distaste  for  the  whole  expedition  ;  though  the 
Princes  assured  him  that,  when  they  arrived  in  France, 
the  whole  population  would  rise  for  the  Royalists. 

The  campaign  opened  ;  and  Longwy  and  Verdun 
were  soon  taken  by  the  Allies.  This  was,  however, 
only  a  first  step,  and  the  Emigre  army  was  in  a 
starving  condition,  while  the  invasion  of  France 
excited  hostile  demonstrations  among  the  inhabitants, 
instead  of  the  gratitude  and  enthusiasm  which  had 
been  confidently  expected.  The  weather  was  terrible, 
the  roads  were  morasses  of  mud,  and  dysentery 
broke  out  among  the  troops  ;  while  the  Emigres, 
who  had  hoped  to  be  in  a  prominent  position  in  the 
army,  soon  found  that  this  was  not  the  intention 
of  the  Allies.  One  of  their  number  says  :  "  I  re- 
marked with  sorrow  that  we  seemed  only  destined 
to  play  a  very  secondary  part.  The  King  of  Prussia 
dragged  us  after  him,  and  we  were  almost  abandoned  ; 
the  Princes  had  no  money,  and  were  quite  unable  to 
supply  the  wants  of  their  army,  or  those  of  an 
infinity  of  impoverished  gentlemen  whose  zeal  much 
transcended  their  resources."  x 

Worse  was  to  follow,  for  Brunswick  was  furious 
with  the  Princes,  who  had,  he  said,  deceived  him  as 
to  the  state  of  feeling  in  France  ;  and  after  being 
defeated  at  the  battle  of  Valmy,  in  which  he  would  not 
allow  the  Emigres  to  take  part,  and  entering  into 
sundry  unsuccessful  negotiations  with  Dumouriez,  he 
announced  that  the  campaign  was  at  an  end,  and 
insisted  on  beating  an  immediate  retreat. 

The  Princes  were  not  admitted  to  Brunswick's  con- 
fidence or  consulted  about  anything,  being  treated  as 
people  of  no  importance ;  but  when  the  retreat  began, 

1  Manoires  du  Comte  de  Mo?iolles,  p.  41. 


The  Princes  with  the  Army  1 1 5 

their  position  was  terrible.  The  campaign,  on  which 
their  fondest  hopes  had  so  long  been  centred,  had 
ended  in  utter  disaster;  they  had  failed  to  rescue  the 
King  and  Royal  Family,  and  were  now  homeless  and 
penniless,  exiles  from  their  country,  and  dependent 
for  the  means  of  life  on  the  charity  of  foreigners. 

To  add  to  their  sufferings,  they  were  surrounded  by 
unfortunate  people  who — possibly  rendered  unjust  by 
despair — attributed  their  misfortunes  to  the  heedless 
conduct  of  the  Princes  at  Coblentz,  and  who  prayed 
for  assistance  which  the  latter  were  not  able  to  give. 
At  last,  in  shame  and  anguish  they  were  obliged  to 
hide  themselves  from  their  miserable  army,  during 
the  horrors  of  that  terrible  disease-  and  famine-ridden 
retreat  through  a  hostile  land.  The  Comte  de  Moriolles, 
an  intimate  friend  of  d'Avaray,  gives  a  graphic  account 
of  their  situation.  He  says  :  "  I  arrived  on  the  second 
day  at  Longuyon,  a  town  of  considerable  size,  where 
was  an  immense  blacksmith's  forge  ;  in  a  large  hall, 
intended  for  coal,  lay  600  corpses  which  had  been 
collected  there,  and  a  number  of  sick  people  who 
would  soon  increase  the  number  of  the  dead.  I  turned 
away  from  this  scene  of  desolation,  and  went  into  an 
inn  of  which  nothing  now  remained  but  four  walls,  where 
at  least  the  horses  might  be  rested  for  a  minute ;  there  I 
learnt  that  our  Princes  and  several  people  of  their  suite, 
had  spent  the  night  in  a  house  which  was  pointed  out 
to  me,  and  to  which  I  hastened.  Doors  and  windows 
were  hermetically  closed,  which  did  not  prevent  me 
from  knocking  for  several  minutes  without  getting  an 
answer  ;  but  at  last  a  shutter  was  partly  opened,  and 
d'Avaray  appeared  at  the  window. 

"  '  Why,  it  is  you  !'  he  said.  '  Come  in  quickly,  by 
the  window,  which    I    will  open.'     And  as   soon    as    I 


n6  Louis  XVIII 

had  entered  the  room  he  shut  it  again,  and  said  :  '  We 
are  obliged  to  hide  ourselves,  and  only  go  out  in  the 
evening,  to  escape  the  laments  and  the  prayers  which  we 
cannot  satisfy,  and  which  tear  our  hearts.  What  mis- 
fortunes !     and  what  treason  !     What  will  become   of 

3    »  "  1 

usr 

Hungry  and  barefooted,  the  unfortunate  soldiers  were 
treated  everywhere  like  outcast  dogs,  but  eventually 
Conde's  army,  which  had  not  fought  at  all,  was  taken 
into  Austrian  pay;  as  "otherwise  they  would  infest  the 
highroads,  the  neighbouring  States  would  refuse  to 
receive  them,  and  Austria  would  be  forced  to  exterminate 
them."  In  Germany,  Belgium,  and  Italy,  the  Revolu- 
tionary armies  were  victorious.  Monsieur  took  refuge 
in  Coblentz,  but  was  obliged  to  fly  before  the  conquering 
French  army  ;  while  at  Treves  his  carriages  were  seized 
by  his  creditors. 

In  November,  the  unfortunate  Princes  arrived  in 
Liege  with  the  debris  of  their  army  ;  and  while  the 
Comte  d'Artois  remained  there,  Monsieur,  like  his 
brother  in  a  penniless  condition,  went  on  to  Namur, 
where  he  waited  for  permission  from  the  King  of  Prussia 
to  seek  refuge  in  his  dominions.  In  the  middle  of 
December  the  Princes  obtained  leave  from  Frederick 
William  to  reside  at  Hamm,  in  Westphalia  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  they  received  from  Catherine  of  Russia 
a  welcome  present  of  750,000  francs,  part  of  which 
went  to  supply  the  pressing  needs  of  Conde's  army. 

Monsieur  arrived  at  Hamm  near  the  end  of  January, 
and  it  was  there  that  he  waited  anxiously  for  news  of 
the  progress  of  the  King's  trial,  and  heard  of  his 
death  on  the  scaffold.  On  January  28,  1793,  he 
published  a  Declaration  proclaiming  the  Dauphin  King 
1  Memoires  dn  Comte  de  Moriolles,  p.  53. 


Monsieur's  Declaration  as  Regent  1 1 7 

of  France,  under  the  title  of  Louis  XVII,  and  taking 
to  himself  the  position  of  Regent.  The  Declaration 
was,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  strongly  and 
indignantly  anti-revolutionary,  and  Monsieur  wrote  at 
the  same  time  to  the  gentlemen  of  Auvergne  :  "  As 
for  me,  to  avenge  the  blood  of  the  King,  my  brother, 
to  release  my  family,  to  place  my  nephew  on  the 
Throne,  and  to  give  back  to  my  country  its  ancient 
Constitution,  or  perish  with  you  on  the  ruins  of  it, 
such  is  my  vow,  such  the  one  object  of  my  ambition." 

This  was  distinctly  the  language  of  non-compromise 
— language  which  would  be  hardly  more  unwelcome  to 
the  violent  Revolutionaries  than  to  the  moderate  party 
who  desired  to  preserve  the  Monarchy,  but  to  introduce 
a  new  Constitution  somewhat  on  the  model  of  the 
English  legislature  ;  and  who, christened  "Monarchiens," 
by  the  ultra-Royalists,  were  even  more  disliked  by  them 
than  were  the  Jacobins.  Nevertheless,  though  we  may 
wish  that  Monsieur  had  managed  rather  earlier  to  realise 
that  France  would  never  return  to  that  Ancient  Regime 
in  which  he  had  been  educated,  a  politic  liberalism 
would  surely  be  out  of  place  when  he  was  trembling  with 
indignation  and  sorrow  at  the  murder  of  his  brother. 
The  Declaration,  however,  was  hardly  noticed  in  France, 
for  of  what  importance  were  the  words  of  a  poor, 
proscribed,  penniless  Prince,  who  might  call  himself 
Regent  if  it  so  pleased  him,  but  who  had  not  the 
slightest  power  to  enforce  his  claims  to  the  position, 
or  to  compel  the  European  Powers  to  recognise  it  ? 

Catherine  II,  to  whom  the  Comte  d'Artois  paid  a 
visit  about  this  time,  was  the  one  person  who  seemed 
really  friendly  to  the  Emigres,  and  even  she  was 
disgusted  with  the  Royalists  who  surrounded  the 
Prince. 


n8  Louis  XVIII 

"  What  can  be  done,"  she  cried,  "  with  such  pre- 
sumptuous, vain,  frivolous  people  ? '"  And  she  refused 
to  help,  except  with  generous  gifts  of  money,  unless 
England  would  join  her,  which  England  declined  to 
do.  Therefore  the  Comte  de  Provence  could  do 
nothing  in  his  retreat  at  Hamm  but  write  letters 
couched  in  the  most  pathetic  and  flowery  language 
to  the  different  European  nations,  issue  manifestoes 
in  his  supposed  position  as  Regent,  and  despatch  secret 
agents  in  all  directions,  a  business  at  which  he  showed 
considerable  cleverness,  for  his  envoys — unlike  those  of 
his  brother — were  seldom  caught. 

During  the  sojourn  of  the  Princes  at  Hamm,  one 
melancholy  satisfaction  was  accorded  to  them — a  satis- 
faction which  proved  that,  in  spite  of  dissensions  among 
the  Royal  Family,  real  affection  existed  among  its 
members,  and  that  even  Marie  Antoinette  considered 
that  the  exasperating  imprudences  of  her  brothers-in-law 
were  mistakes  of  the  head,  and  not  of  the  heart.  For  one 
day  an  emissary  from  Monsieur  de  Jarjayes,  one  of  the 
Queen's  most  faithful  and  heroic  adherents,  arrived  at 
Hamm,  bringing  with  him  a  letter,  and  a  most  precious 
packet  containing  Louis  XVI's  seal,  his  ring,  and  the 
hair  of  all  the  prisoners  in  the  Temple.  It  was  the 
Princesses'  most  earnest  wish  that  these  melancholy 
and  precious  souvenirs  should  be  given  to  the  Princes, 
and  the  Queen  had  charged  Monsieur  de  Jarjayes  with 
the  commission. 

On  May  14,  1 793,  Jarjayes  received  the  following 
letter  from  Monsieur  : 

"  You  have  procured  for  me  the  most  precious 
possession  I  have  in  the  world,  the  only  real  consola- 
tion I  have  felt  since  our   troubles  ;   my  one  longing 


Souvenirs  from  the  Temple  1 1 9 

now  is  to  be  able  to  show  the  beings  who  are  more 
dear  to  me  than  life  itself,  of  whom  you  have  given 
me  news,  how  much  I  love  them,  how  deeply  their 
letter  and  the  other  tokens  of  their  friendship  and 
confidence  have  touched  my  heart  with  the  tenderest 
feelings.  But  I  cannot  hope  for  so  much  happiness, 
and  I  am  sure  that  if  you  knew  of  a  way  of  doing  this 
you  would  point  it  out  to  me.  I  should  have  liked  to 
have  seen  you,  to  have  expressed  to  you  my  gratitude, 
to  have  talked  with  you  about  them,  about  the  smallest 
details,  about  the  services  you  have  rendered  them. 
But  I  can  but  approve  of  the  reasons  which  keep  you 
in  Piedmont.  Continue  to  serve  our  unfortunate 
young  King  as  you  have  served  the  brother  whom 
I  shall  regret  all  my  life.  Tell  Monsieur  de  Joly  from 
me  how  well  satisfied  I  am  with  his  conduct,  and  both 
of  you  count  for  ever  on  me  ! 

"Louis  Stanislas  Xavier."1 

In  the  shadow  of  death  dissensions  had  faded  away  ; 
but  the  Princes  could  do  nothing  to  save  those  dear  to 
them  ;  they  could  only  wait  in  agonised  suspense,  for 
Europe  was  deaf  to  their  prayers  for  help.  Reports 
came  to  them  from  time  to  time  of  events  which  might 
be  favourable  to  their  cause  ;  the  French  General 
Dumouriez  deserted  to  the  Austrians,  and  excited 
their  ardent  hopes  that  his  defection  might  mean  the 
ending  of  the  Revolution.  But  no.  In  spite  of  there 
being  one  French  General  the  less,  the  Revolution, 
though  soiled  with  horrors,  never  hesitated  in  its 
triumphant  march.  The  insurrections  in  Poitou,  La 
Vendee,  Le  Maine,  and  Brittany  were  a  more  legitimate 
cause  for  rejoicing,  and  for  the  next  few  years  a  constant 

1  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Goguelat,  p.  80. 


i2o  Louts  XVIII 

stream  of  agents  bearing  letters  and  manifestoes,  would 
go  backwards  and  forwards  between  Brittany  and  where- 
ever  the  Princes  might  be  located. 

The  Vendean  War  kept  the  Comte  d'Artois,  in 
particular,  in  a  continual  state  of  excitement,  for  the 
heroic  defenders  of  the  Monarchy  in  France  longed 
for  one  of  the  Princes  to  lead  them  ;  and  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  as  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Kingdom,  was 
always  on  the  point  of  starting  to  take  command  of 
the  Royalist  army,  and  was  always  prevented  by  some 
absolutely  insurmountable  obstacle.  Sometimes  England 
objected,  and  as  England,  though  refusing  to  act  openly, 
provided  the  sinews  of  war,  with  the  object  of  keeping 
her  formidable  rival  France  in  a  disturbed  condition, 
the  Comte  d'Artois  bowed  to  her  will.  "  It  would 
always  have  been  possible  to  get  into  a  boat,"  said 
Napoleon,  when  he  heard  that  the  Prince's  project  was 
prevented  by  England's  opposition  ;  but  the  Comte 
d'Artois  was  not  Napoleon. 

Later  on,  assisted  by  England,  Puisaye  led  an  ill- 
fated  expedition  to  the  assistance  of  the  Vendeans,  was 
defeated  by  Hoche  at  Quiberon,  and  covered  reams  of 
paper  to  Monsieur — who  had  then  assumed  the  title 
of  King — defending  himself  from  certain  charges  of 
treachery  which  were  brought  against  him,  and  abusing 
other  people,  who  replied  by  recriminations  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  mistakes  which  had  sacrificed  the  lives  of 
many  brave  men.1 

Returning  to  the  fortunes  of  Monsieur  at  Hamm, 
we  find  that  towards  the  end  of  1793,  after  vainly 
trying  to  induce  England  or  Spain  to  recognise  his 
title  of  Regent,  he  could  not  bear  inaction  any  longer, 
and  determined  to  make  his  way  to  Toulon  and  Lyons, 

1  Puisaye  Papers  (British  Museum),  vol.  xxxiv.  g  3. 


Expeditions  and  Tragedies  121 

the  former  town  having  opened  her  port  to  the  Spanish 
and  English,  who  had  entered  it  in  the  name  of 
Louis  XVII  ;  while  Lyons  was  making  a  heroic  defence 
against  the  Republican  armies,  the  news  of  whose 
victory,  however,  reached  Monsieur  before  he  left 
Hamm.  He  also  received  tidings  of  the  execution 
of  Marie  Antoinette,  and  it  was  with  a  heavy  heart 
that  he  started  on  his  journey. 

Monsieur  was  evidently  anxious  to  keep  up  the 
dignity  of  his  position  as  Regent,  for  when  he  and 
the  Comte  d'Artois  separated,  not  to  meet  again  for 
seven  years,  he  left  directions  that  while  his  brother's 
orders  as  to  schemes  already  started  must  be  obeyed  as 
though  they  were  his  own,  fresh  plans  must  only  be 
originated  by  him. 

Monsieur  travelled  as  the  Comte  de  l'lsle,  and  at 
Verona  was  greeted  with  the  tragic  news  that  another 
of  his  hopes  had  vanished,  as  Toulon  had  submitted 
to  the  Republic.  There  seemed  now  no  abiding-place 
on  earth  for  him,  for  Spain  continued  to  refuse  his 
urgent  prayers  for  asylum,  and  he  could  not  bear  to 
be  far  from  the  French  frontier,  so  did  not  wish  to  ask 
for  one  in  Russia. 

The  Bourbon  Family  were  in  a  melancholy  and 
divided  condition  at  this  time.  Madame  Elizabeth  had 
perished,  Louis  XVII  and  his  sister  Madame  Therese, 
afterwards  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  were  imprisoned  in 
the  Temple,  the  Comtesse  de  Provence  and  the  Com- 
tesse  d'Artois  had  found  an  asylum  at  Turin  with  their 
father  the  King  of  Sardinia,  and  the  Comte  d'Artois 
was  still  at  Hamm,  apparently,  as  usual,  making 
preparations  for  his  ever-deferred  descent  on  Brittany. 

In  June  1794  the  Regent  settled  at  Verona,  and 
found  himself  in  such  discomfort  and  poverty  that  it 


122  Louis    XVIII 

was  impossible  to  summon  his  wife  to  his  side,  so  she 
remained  at  Turin  ;  while,  as  though  misfortune  was 
determined  to  do  her  worst,  another  terrible  blow  fell 
on  his  devoted  head. 

In  April  1792,  when  the  King  of  Sardinia  had 
offered  an  asylum  to  the  Comtesse  of  Provence, 
Madame  de  Balbi  had  accompanied  her  from  Coblentz 
to  Turin  ;  but  the  lively  lady  soon  tired  of  Victor 
Amedee's  austere  Court,  and  went  to  Luxembourg; 
and  from  there,  after  the  retreat  of  Brunswick's  army, 
she  paid  occasional  visits  to  Monsieur  at  Namur.  She 
eventually  settled  at  Brussels,  whence  she  followed  the 
various  tergiversations  of  the  political  situation  with 
the  utmost  interest,  and  kept  up  a  lively  correspond- 
ence with  Monsieur,  whom  she  addressed  in  her  letters 
as  cher  frere. 

Brussels  was  a  gay  place  ;  Madame  de  Balbi,  as  we 
know,  delighted  in  society,  especially  in  that  of  the 
opposite  sex,  and  scandal  soon  began  to  couple  her 
name  with  that  of  the  Comte  Archambaud  de  Perigord, 
the  hero  of  many  adventures  as  a  lady-killer.  The 
matter  soon  became  serious,  for  Madame  de  Balbi 
was  too  prominent  a  lady  for  anything  concerning  her 
to  remain  long  secret  ;  and  the  story  of  the  liaison 
reached  the  ears  of  d'Avaray.  He  heard  it  with  the 
utmost  emotion,  for  it  was  calculated  to  cover  the 
name  of  his  beloved  Master  with  ridicule  ;  but  for  a 
time  he  did  not  dare  to  do  more  than  to  endeavour 
to  enlighten  the  Regent  by  hints,  which  of  course  were 
not  understood.  However,  when  the  Regent  heard 
from  the  faithless  lady  announcing  her  approaching 
arrival  at  Verona,  and  passed  her  epistle  on  to  his 
friend,  d'Avaray  felt  that  he  could  keep  the  secret 
no   longer.     The   letter   arrived   when    several   of  the 


Madame  de  Balbi's  Doings  123 

Regent's  intimates  were  present,  and  d'Avaray,  after 
reading  it  with  much  agitation,  went  at  once  into  his 
private  room,  where  Monsieur  followed  him  ;  and  as 
soon  as  they  were  alone,  d'Avaray  told  him  the  whole 
story.  "  Here  then  is  a  reward  for  twenty  years  of 
affection  !  '  he  cried  indignantly.  "  At  a  time  when 
everything  crushes  you,  when  even  the  least  influential 
of  your  enemies,  the  weakest  of  your  allies,  your 
very  party  itself  spends  its  time  in  lessening  the 
respect  felt  for  you,  a  lost  woman,  the  scandal  of 
Europe,  insults  your  misfortunes,  and  is  coming  to 
soil  your  retreat.  No  !  your  servants  will  not  bear 
it.  I  do  not  know  the  line  others  may  take  ;  but 
listen  to  the  oath  I  swear  :  if  Madame  de  Balbi  enters 
the  house,  I  leave  it  the  next  day.  Your  honour 
comes  first,  your  favour  afterwards  !  " 

"While   1   was  speaking  my  unfortunate  Prince  was 
overwhelmed  with  grief,  though  roused  from  time  to 
time    by    the    temerity    of   my    words    and    the    force 
of  my  reasoning.     When  for  a  moment  he  uncovered 
his   face,   I  saw   him   redden   and   turn   pale  almost  at 
the    same    moment.       I    could    not    foretell    what    to 
expect,  when   in  a  heartrending  voice  he  said  : 
"  *  Ah  !   my  friend,  do  not  overwhelm  me  !  ' 
"  c  It  would  be  betraying  you  to  spare  you.' 
" '  In    pity   leave  me ;    the   anguish    I    feel  does  not 
allow   me   the   power   of   putting   two   ideas    together. 
Go,   we   shall    see    each    other   again.   ...   I    want   to 
be  alone." 

Later,  the  Regent  told  d'Avaray  with  tears  in 
his  eyes  of  the  decision  he  had  taken.  He  said  : 
"  This  meeting  is  certainly  impossible  ;  I  realise  it  as 
you  do.  Whatever  happens,  the  charm  and  constant 
habit  of  my  life  must   be    broken.      I    tihank   you    for 


i24  Louis  XVIII 

having   spoken   to   me    as    a    courageous    and    faithful 
friend  should."  1 

So  ended  the  love-story  of  Monsieur's  life.  He  had 
chosen  badly  ;  and  was  not  destined,  like  the  Comte 
d'Artois  and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  to  have  his  troubles 
softened  by  the  joys  of  faithful  and  devoted,  if  illicit 
love.  He  never  saw  Madame  de  Balbi  again  ;  but 
the  following  letter  some  time  afterwards  to  the 
Comtesse  .  de  Provence,  who  had  complained  that 
Madame  de  Balbi  had  not  written  to  her  when  she 
should  have  done  so,  shows  how  bitterly  he  felt  the 
defection  of  the  woman  he  loved  : — 

"Verona,  i6t/i  August,  1795. 

"  What  you  tell  me  has  given  you  trouble,  obliges 
me  to  inform  you  of  something  that  happened  some 
time  ago,  but  you  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
laws  of  friendship  not  to  consider  that  they  imposed 
silence  upon  me.  Madame  de  Balbi  owed  you,  no 
doubt,  a  mark  of  respect  on  this  occasion,  but  I  am 
no  longer  in  a  position  to  offer  her  advice. 

"  Friendship  ought  not  to  be  alarmed  at  errors 
caused  by  love,  but  when  these  errors  cause  so  great 
an  exposure  that  honour  is  wounded,  honour  demands 
that  even  friendship  shall  be  sacrificed. 

"This  is  the  case  I  had  to  do  with  last  autumn. 
The  terrible  scandal  of  a  f  liaison  '  with  a  man  who  was 
unfortunately  most  immoral,  and  the  still  more  scan- 
dalous results  of  this  connection,  forced  me  to  make 
a  most  painful  sacrifice  to  my  honour,  that  of  a  friend- 
ship which  has  made  me  happy  for  thirteen  years. 
You  will  easily  understand  that  I  am  not  anxious  to 
speak  of  it  even  to  you.  But  the  confidence  you  have 
1  Reiset,  La  Comtesse  de  Balbi,  p.  295. 


Death  of  Louis  XVIII  125 

made  me  requires  from  me  what  I  make  to  you  to-day. 
If  I  had  known  earlier,  that  is  to  say  before  last 
October,  that  Madame  de  Balbi  had  never  written  to 
you  since  her  departure  from  Turin,  1  would  have 
reproved  her.  Now,  I  have  neither  the  wish  nor  the 
right  to  advise  her."  ! 

Before  this  letter  was  written,  an  important  event 
had  taken  place,  though  for  many  years  it  seemed 
destined  to  make  little  difference  to  Monsieur's 
fortunes.  On  June  8,  1795,  L°ms  XVII  died  in 
the  Temple,  and  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month  the 
Regent  proclaimed  himself  King  of  France  under  the 
title  of  Louis  XVIII,  and  at  once  issued  a  proclamation 
to  his  subjects.  It  was  couched  in  gentler  terms  than 
the  one  written  directly  after  Louis  XVI's  death,  for 
it  promised  reform  of  abuses,  and  pardon  to  every  one 
except  the  regicides ;  but  it  breathed  no  word  of 
abolition  of  the  Ancien  Regime. 

Lord  Macartney,  who  was  at  this  time  at  Verona, 
and  had  many  interviews  with  Louis  XVIII,  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  the  King's  opinions.  He 
says  :  "  With  regard  to  the  French  Constitution,  it  is 
regarded,  particularly  by  the  King,  with  the  same 
fondness  as  the  Common  Law  was  contemplated  by 
my  Lord  Coke,  as  the  wisdom  of  ages,  the  perfection 
of  reason,  etc.,  and  as  the  only  kind  of  government 
suitable  to  the  French  nation.  At  the  same  time  he 
admits  that  many  serious  abuses  had  crept  into  it, 
of  which  he  is  determined  to  purge  it,  if  he  should 
be  restored,  for  none  of  the  abuses  does  he  look  upon 
as  making  any  integral  part  of  the  real  Constitution 
itself,  which  in  his  opinion  is  as  little  despotic  as  our 
1  See  Reiset's  Madame  de  Balbi,  p.  308. 


126  Louis  XVIII 

own."  Later  in  his  letter,  Macartney  says  :  "  The 
King  is  a  man  of  good  understanding,  and  of  extensive 
information.  In  all  his  discourses  he  professes  the 
utmost  moderation  and  integrity,  and  those  who  have 
had  opportunities  of  knowing  him  best  seem  persuaded 
of  his  sincerity. 

"  I  cannot  pretend  to  have  sufficient  experience  of 
him  to  judge  myself  of  his  real  character.  But  I  have 
never  observed  in  him  any  fluctuation  of  opinion  with 
regard  to  what  has  already  past,  or  what  he  thinks 
ought  to  be  done.  He  speaks  of  the  principal  persons 
concerned  in  the  Revolution  without  any  appearance 
of  rancour,  and  of  the  Revolution  itself  with  a  degree 
of  calmness  and  dispassion  that  one  would  hardly 
expect."  1 

Russia  and  Spain  had  acknowledged  the  Comte 
de  Provence's  accession  to  the  title  of  King  of  France. 
He  now  possessed  a  Council;  and  had  just  summoned 
Saint-Priest,  Louis  XVI's  old  Minister,  to  his  side  ; 
otherwise  there  was  no  apparent  difference  between 
the  different  grades  of  Comte  de  Provence,  Regent, 
and  King  without  a  kingdom.  Possibly  Macartney's 
arguments  may  have  had  some  effect  on  Louis  XVIII's 
mind,  as  we  hear  that  in  the  Council  the  question 
was  agitated  of  compounding  with  the  Constitution  of 
1 79 1,  which  had  been  signed  by  Louis  XVI  ;  but  that 
the  ultra-Royalists  rejected  the  idea  with  loathing,  and 
as  usual  carried  their  point.  Otherwise,  matters  were 
much  in  the  same  condition  as  before,  except  that  the 
English  expedition  under  Puisaye  to  La  Vendue  had 
failed  miserably,  and  the  only  bright  spot  on  the 
horizon  was  the  fact  that  Louis  XVI's  daughter,  the 

1  Lord   Macartney  to    Mr.  Wickham,    October    15,    1795,   Wickham 
Co?respondencet  vol.  i.  p.  181. 


Monsieur  calls  himself  King  127 

only  survivor  of  her  unfortunate  family,  had  been 
released  from  the  Temple  and  handed  over  to  the 
Austrians  by  the  Directory,  who  had  just  replaced  the 
Convention  as  rulers  of  France. 

Louis  XVIII  had  long  been  impatient  of  his  forced 
sojourn  at  Verona,  and  had  longed  for  an  asylum  in 
Spain,  which,  however,  had  been  continually  refused  by 
the  Spanish  Government.  Now,  however,  afraid  that 
his  state  of  inaction  would  be  contrasted  disadvan- 
tageous^ with  his  brother's  activity — which,  though 
not  very  useful  was  at  any  rate  showy — he  was  most 
anxious  to  join  Condi's  army,  not,  as  he  explained, 
as  King,  but  as  the  Comte  de  l'lsle,  a  simple  gentleman, 
who  had  come  to  fight  under  the  white  flag.  Austria 
was,  however,  obdurate  in  her  objection  to  this  plan, 
and  her  fear  of  France  was  well  founded,  for  nearly  all 
the  European  Powers  had  recognised  the  Republic, 
and  her  armies  were  everywhere  triumphant. 

It  soon  became  absolutely  necessary  for  Louis  XVIII 
to  leave  Verona,  for  on  April  14,  1794,  the  Venetian 
Republic,  at  the  order  of  the  Directory,  who  were 
furious  because  the  Russian  Ambassador  had  been 
accredited  to  Louis  XVIII  and  not  to  the  representative 
of  the  French  Republic,  informed  the  King  that  they 
could  no  longer  allow  him  to  remain  in  Verona. 
Louis  XV Ill's  answer  may  be  given  in  the  words  of 
d'Avaray  : 

"  My  Master  answered,  *  I  will  go  '  ;  but  I  require 
two  conditions — the  first  that  I  am  given  the  golden 
book  in  which  the  name  of  my  family  is  inscribed, 
so  that  I  may  cross  it  out  with  my  own  hand  ;  the 
second  that  the  armour  which  my  ancestor  Henri  IV 
gave  in  friendship  to  the  Republic  is  returned  to  me." 

These  words  were  doubtless  intended  to  touch  the 


12  8  Louis  XVIII 

Venetian  Republic  to  the  quick,  but  unfortunately 
Louis  XVIII  was  always  destined  to  find  during  his 
wanderings,  that  when  a  country  was  threatened  by 
victorious  France,  fantastic  ideas  of  honour  weighed 
lightly  in  the  balance  against  patriotism  and  self- 
preservation.  Eventually  he  departed  with  a  certain 
lack  of  dignity,  as,  in  order  to  hide  his  flight  from  his 
creditors,  and  also  from  the  representative  of  the  French 
Republic  at  Verona,  he  and  d'Avaray  left  Verona 
secretly  and  travelled  by  the  St.  Gothard  Pass,  while 
Vauguyon,  who  resembled  his  Royal  Master,  played 
his  part  for  the  occasion,  and  went  by  the  usual 
route. 

Against  the  advice  of  the  English  agents,  and  with- 
out consulting  Austria,  Louis  XVIII  had  determined 
to  make  his  way  to  Conde's  army  ;  and  after  eight  days 
of  painful  mule  travelling  he  arrived  at  Riegel,  the 
Prince's  headquarters,  and  next  day  harangued  the 
troops,  telling  them  that  his  presence  would  help  to 
end  the  misfortunes  of  France  by  "  showing  the  deluded 
subjects  still  armed  against  us,  the  difference  of  their 
fate  under  the  tyrants  who  oppress  them  to  that  enjoyed 
by  children  surrounding  a  good  father."  Louis  XVIII 
was,  of  course,  the  "  good  father  "  ;  but  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  he  rode  among  the  regiments,  visited  their  out- 
posts along  the  Rhine,  and  even  tried  to  persuade  the 
"deluded  subjects"  at  the  other  side  of  the  river  to 
join  his  cause,  the  Republican  soldiers  did  not  appear 
inclined  to  recognise  the  force  of  his  arguments. 
Perhaps  it  occurred  to  them  that  the  paternal  relation 
did  not  always  involve  payment  of  troops.  However, 
though  nothing  decisive  happened,  it  was  at  least 
satisfactory  that  they  crowded  to  see  him,  and  seemed 
touched  by  what  he  said  to  them. 


With   Conde's   Army  129 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  even  among  the  Emigre  army 
Louis  XVIII  did  not  excite  enthusiasm,  being  con- 
sidered, as  at  Coblentz,  "  not  pure  "  in  his  politics  ; 
while  his  warlike  pretensions  and  persevering  efforts 
to  assume  a  soldierly  character,  in  conjunction  with 
his  absolute  unfitness  for  the  martial  calling,  excited 
ridicule  in  the  gay,  gallant,  feather-brained  gentlemen 
of  the  Ancien   Regime. 

Others  judged  him  more  favourably,  for  several 
Councils  were  held  at  Riegel,  to  which  the  King 
invited  the  English  envoys,  Mr.  Wickham  and  Colonel 
Craufurd  ;  and  they  were  struck  by  Louis  XVIII's 
superiority  to  the  men  who  surrounded  him,  and 
wished  some  capable  person  could  be  with  him  to 
advise  him.  The  subject  discussed  at  one  of  the 
Councils  was  the  question  of  what  should  be  said  to 
Austria,  who  had  strongly  objected  to  Louis  XVIII's 
presence  with  Conde's  army  ;  and  the  Englishmen 
feared  that  the  answer  contemplated  by  the  King  would 
cause  an  open  rupture  between  him  and  the  Emperor 
Francis.  He  (the  King),  says .  Wickham,  "  was  pre- 
vented from  yielding  to  our  remonstrances  by  the 
warmth  and  childish  petulance  of  the  Count  d'Avaray, 
who,  with  not  half  the  talents,  learning,  or  good  sense 

of  the  King,  has  the  most  absolute  dominion  over  his 

j  >»  1 
mind. 

Eventually,  the  English  envoys  succeeded  in  carrying 

their    point  ;     but     in     spite     of    this,    the    Austrians 

threatened    to    use    force    unless    the   Comte   de  l'lsle 

would  consent  to  leave  Conde's  army  at  once.     The 

unfortunate  King's  situation  was  therefore  most  forlorn  ; 

for  no  resting  place  seemed  open  to  him,  and  he  started 

to  wander  aimlessly  he  knew  not  whither.      By   chance 

1  Wickliam's  Correspondence,  vol.  i.  p.  364. 

9 


i3o  Louis  XVIII 

he  came  again  into  contact  with  the  military  operations  ; 
this  time  Conde,  as  well  as  the  Austrian  army,  being 
in  full  retreat  before  the  Republican  General  Moreau. 
Louis  XVIII  stayed  with  the  army  for  a  few  days,  and 
then  issued  a  farewell  proclamation  to  the  troops,  as 
there  was  little  use  in  accompanying  the  Emigre  army 
in  its  forced  march  into  Germany. 

However,  he  lingered  a  few  days  at  the  little  town 
of  Dillingen,  where  his  troubles,  as  well  as  his  hopes, 
were  almost  ended  for  ever.  Tired  with  the  heat, 
he  was  standing  one  evening  with  the  Due  de  Fleury 
and  the  Due  de  Guiche  at  the  open  window  of  his  inn, 
when  some  one  fired  at  him  from  the  street,  and  the 
ball  struck  the  top  of  his  head  and  lodged  in  the  wall 
behind.  At  the  cries  of  the  two  gentlemen,  d'Avaray, 
who  had  just  left  his  master,  returned  to  find  him 
covered  with  blood,  and  his  two  attendants  in  the 
greatest  anguish,  fearing  he  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  King,  however,  treated  the  incident  with  the 
utmost  coolness.  "  If  the  shot  had  been  aimed  a  little 
lower,"  he  said  to  those  around  him  directly  after  the 
accident,  "  the  name  of  the  King  would  have  been 
Charles  X."  He  was  laid  up  for  some  time  from  the 
effects'jof  his  wound,  and  as  soon  as  he  recovered,  he 
left  the  army  by  night  to  avoid  disturbance  in  the 
camp ;  but  the  Emigres,  whose  motto  was  "  no  com- 
promise," and  in  whose  impracticable  minds  political 
and  prudential  considerations  weighed  for  nothing, 
were  very  angry  at  his  departure,  feeling  ashamed  that 
he  should  yield  to  Austrian  orders.1 

Brunswick  was  the    only  State    which    would    now 
receive  the  Comte  de  l'lsle,  and  at  Blanckenburg  in  that 
State  he  and  his  suite  were  lodged  in  three  rooms  at 
1  Souvenirs  du  Comte  de  la  Ferronays,  p.  42. 


Blanckenburg  1 3 1 

the  house  of  a  brewer's  widow,  and  he  received  his 
guests  "  in  a  spare  blue  coat,  with  waistcoat  and 
breeches  of  worn  black,  but  with  an  affable  air."  J 

In  Blanckenburg  for  eighteen  months  Louis  XVIII 
lived  in  discomfort.  He  worked  hard,  writing  con- 
tinually to  his  agents  in  Paris,  and  setting  on  foot  fresh 
intrigues  with  the  object  of  rousing  Royalist  feeling  in 
France.  Sometimes  he  was  served  by  faithful  and 
active  adherents,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  often 
found  himself  exploited  by  worthless  adventurers,  who 
deceived  him  by  pretended  advances  on  the  part  of 
prominent  Republicans  ;  Barras,  Hoche,  Moreau,  and 
later  Napoleon  himself,  each  exciting  his  hopes  on 
various  occasions. 

At  Blanckenburg  Saint-Priest  visited  the  King,  and 
assumed  what  was  virtually  the  position  of  First  Minister. 
There  he  heard  of  the  death  of  Catherine  II,  the 
faithful  friend  of  the  Emigres  ;  there  he  received 
news  of  the  arrest  of  the  members  of  the  Royalist 
agency  in  Paris,  and  of  the  seizure  of  their  papers,  and 
with  the  help  of  Saint-Priest  reconstructed  the  agency. 
There,  too,  after  his  hopes  had  been  raised  by  the 
greater  moderation  of  feeling  in  France,  and  by  the 
fact  that  in  1797  two  hundred  Royalists  were  returned 
in  the  elections  for  the  legislature,  a  crushing  blow 
was  dealt  to  him  by  the  Coup  d'Etat  of  Fructidor  1 8 
— in  non-Revolutionary  parlance,  September  4th,  1797 
— when  the  Revolutionary  Government  rose  against  the 
moderates,  and  exiled  them  for  life  to  the  unhealthy 
swamps  of  Cayenne. 

The  Republic  was    again    firmly  established  as  the 
Government  of  France,  and  to  all  eyes  but  those  of 
the     patient,    ever-buoyant     exile     at     Blanckenburg, 
1  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  I 'Emigration,  vol.  i.  p.  376. 


132  Louis  XVIII 

matters  seemed  hopeless  for  the  Bourbon  Family. 
However,  Louis  XVIII  never  despaired,  for  he 
believed  firmly  in  a  destiny  which  must  eventually 
replace  him  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers  ;  therefore, 
whatever  catastrophe  might  befall  him,  his  fortitude 
was  unshaken,  and  his  serenity  undisturbed. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Liberation  of  Madame  Royale — Letters  between  her  and  Louis  XVIII 
— His  scheme  to  marry  her  to  the  Due  d'Angouleme — Austrian 
opposition — Madame  Royale's  firmness — Her  character — That  of 
the  Due  d'Angouleme — Louis  XVIII's  alarm  at  his  liberal  views — 
Louis  XVIII  obliged  to  leave  Blanckenburg. 

AMONG  the  many  projects  which  occupied 
Louis  XVIII's  thoughts  both  at  Verona  and  at 
Blanckenburg,  one  seemed  to  him  of  supreme  im- 
portance, both  from  a  political  point  of  view,  and  also 
because  it  would  satisfy  the  dictates  of  natural  affection 
by  uniting  the  Bourbon  Family  very  closely  together. 

It  was  with  the  utmost  joy  that  the  King  had  heard 
during  his  stay  at  Verona  of  the  approaching  liberation  of 
the  seventeen-year-old  Madame  Royale,  and  he  managed 
at  once  to  convey  a  letter  for  her  to  Madame  de 
Tourzel,  who  was  allowed  to  visit  her  in  the  Temple. 

c<  I  hazard  this  letter,  my  dear  niece,"  he  said, 
"  without  knowing  whether  it  will  reach  you  ;  but  my 
tenderness  for  you  will  not  long  allow  me  to  be  silent 
in  such  a  cruel  time.  Nothing  can  make  up  to  you 
for  the  terrible  losses  you  have  sustained  ;  but  allow 
me  to  try  to  soften  the  bitterness  of  them.  Consider 
me,  I  beg  you,  as  your  father,  and  be  quite  sure  that  I 
love  you,  and  shall  love  you  as  tenderly  as  though  you 
were  my  own  daughter.  If  those  who  manage  to 
convey  this  letter  to  you  can  give  you  at  the  same 
time  the  means  of  replying  to  it  with  safety,  I  shall  be 

133 


i34  Louis  XVIII 

enraptured  to  learn  that  your  heart  accepts  the  offers  of 
mine.  But,  in  the  name  of  God,  no  imprudence,  and 
remember  that  your  safety  is  preferable  to  my  satisfac- 
tion. Good-bye,  dear  niece  ;  I  love  and  embrace  you 
with  all  my  heart."  1 

In  spite  of  the  closeness  with  which  she  was  watched, 
Madame  Royale  managed  to  answer  her  uncle's  letter. 

"  My   dear   Uncle,"  she  wrote  : 

"  No  one  'can  be  more  touched  than  I  am  by 
the  feelings  you  deign  to  show  an  unfortunate  orphan, 
in  wishing  to  adopt  her  as  your  daughter.  The  first 
moment  of  joy  which  I  have  tasted  for  three  years,  is 
that  in  which  you  tell  me  of  your  kindly  feelings.  I 
love  you,  as  ever,  very  much,  and  hope  some  day  to 
express  to  you  myself  my  gratitude  and  friendship  for 
you.  I  am  very  anxious  about  your  health,  and  to  know 
what  you  have  become  during  the  three  years  during 
which  I  have  not  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  you.  I 
hope  that  you  are  well.  I  pray  Heaven  for  that  every 
day,  as  well  as  to  prolong  your  days,  so  that  you  may 
be  happy,  which  perhaps  will  not  happen  for  a  long 
time.  Good-bye.  I  beg  you  to  feel  certain  that,  what- 
ever happens,  till  my  last  breath  1  shall  love  you. 

"Marie  Therese  Charlotte."2 

This  was  a  delightful  letter  to  receive,  but  in  spite  of 
his  joy  at  his  niece's  freedom,  the  knowledge  that  it 
had  been  granted  at  the  request  of  the  Emperor 
Francis,  and  that  Louis  XVI's  daughter  was  now  in  the 
hands  of  her  mother's  relations,  filled  the  King  with 
apprehensions.     Austria   and  France  had  always  been 

1  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  I £migratio7i ,  vol.  ii.  p.  130. 
*  Ibid. 


Release  of  Madame   Royale  135 

enemies,  one  of  the  most  telling  epithets  used  against 
the  unfortunate  Marie  Antoinette  being  that  of 
"  l'Autrichienne,"  because  it  identified  her  with  the 
country  hated  by  the  French  with  a  deadly  hatred  ;  while 
to  Louis  XVIII  the  feeling  of  hostility  was  intensified 
by  the  fact  that  the  Austrians  had  always  disliked  and 
feared  the  Emigres,  and  had  belittled  and  circumvented 
them  at  every  turn.  It  would  be  a  terrible  catastrophe 
if  Madame  Royale  should,  in  anger  at  the  cruel  treat- 
ment she  had  received,  desert  the  country  of  her  birth 
and  adopt  her  mother's  native  place  as  her  own  ; 
besides,  Louis  XVIII  suspected  that  there  might  be  a 
design  in  the  Emperor's  mind  to  marry  her  to  his 
second  brother,  the  Archduke  Charles.  Possibly 
Austrian  ambition  soared  yet  higher,  and  the  Emperor 
saw  in  a  beatific  vision  the  throne  of  France  jointly 
occupied  by  his  brother  and  Louis  XVI's  daughter. 
The  fancy  was  maddening,  and  except  for  the  power  of 
the  pen,  Louis  XVIII  was  utterly  helpless  to  combat 
the  schemes  of  his  enemy. 

One  day,  however,  in  a  talk  with  d'Avaray,  the  idea 
of  a  possible  marriage  between  Madame  Royale  and 
the  Due  d'Angouleme,  eldest  son  of  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  was  mooted.  The  notion  took  a  firm  hold  of 
Louis  XVIII's  mind.  It  seemed  to  him  from  all  points 
of  view  supremely  desirable  ;  but  the  matter  required 
the  utmost  care  and  diplomacy,  for  the  Princess  was 
now  almost  a  stranger  to  her  uncle,  and  in  Austria  she 
would  be  completely  exposed  to  the  influence  of  her 
mother's  relations. 

Therefore,  on  her  departure  from  France,  the  King 
sent  Conde  and  d'Avaray  to  meet  her  at  Bale,  bearing 
with  them  a  most  affectionate  letter,  in  which  he  again 
offered  her  his  fatherly  love,   while    enjoining  her  to 


136  Louis  XVIII 

remember  the  gratitude  she  owed  to  her  cousin  the 
Emperor,  who  had  managed  to  bring  about  her  liberty. 
At  the  same  time  he  despatched  a  letter  to  Madame  de 
Tourzel,  who  was,  he  thought,  to  accompany  Madame 
Royale  to  Austria,  and  in  this  he  showed  his  real  feel- 
ings.    He  said  : 

"  It  is  very  difficult  for  me  to  believe  in  the  thorough 
disinterestedness  of  the  Austrian  Court,  and  I  cannot 
help,  under  its  apparent  generosity,  suspecting  long- 
sighted calculations,  and  an  intention  to  make  me  some 
day  pay  dearly  for  my  niece's  liberty.  Besides,  after 
all  she  has  suffered  in  France,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
inspire  her  with  an  insurmountable  dislike  for  a  country 
which  is,  and  which  I  hope  above  all  things  will  be, 
always  hers.  It  is  only  too  probable  that  this  is  what 
will  happen  to  her  in  Vienna."  1 

A  few  days  later,  after  consulting  again  with 
d'Avaray,  he  decided  to  confide  even  more  thoroughly 
in  Madame  de  Tourzel,  and  added  the  following 
paragraph  to  his  letter  : 

"  It  is  you  on  whom  I  depend  to  foil  any  projects  the 
Court  of  Vienna  may  entertain,  by  continually  remind- 
ing my  niece  that  without  forgetting  the  gratitude  she 
owes  to  the  Emperor,  she  must  always  remember  that 
she  is  French,  that  she  is  of  my  blood,  that  she  has  no 
other  father  but  me,  that  she  ought  to  share,  like  the 
rest  of  my  family,  my  fate,  whether  it  be  happy  or 
unhappy,  and,  above  all  things,  that  she  must  not  con- 
tract ties,  or  even  make  promises  except  by  my  wishes 
and  under  my  authority.  I  will  tell  you  more  ;  I  have 
thought  about  her  happiness,  about  that  of  all  my 
family,  about  mine,  and  I  can  find  no  surer  means  of 
attaining  these  different  ends,  than  by  marrying  her  to 
1  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  I Emigration,  vol.  ii.  p.  135. 


Question   of  Madame   Roy  ale's   Marriage    137 

the  Due  d'Angouleme,  my  nephew.  I  know  for  certain 
that  the  King  and  Queen,  when  they  had  no  other 
child  but  her,  were  anxious  for  this  marriage.  Cer- 
tainly, when  they  had  boys,  my  nephew  ceased  to  be  a 
suitable  '  parti '  for  her,  and  they  changed  their  mind. 
But  I  am  quite  sure  that  if  they  were  alive  and  had  lost 
their  sons,  they  would  return  to  their  original  intention. 
So  I  am  only  following  it." 

Thus  spoke  the  King  with  Royal  dignity,  and 
asserted  the  authority  he  wielded  as  head  of  the  family. 
Unfortunately,  however,  these  letters  were  useless,  for 
Madame  de  Tourzel  was  not  allowed  to  accompany 
Madame  Royale  to  Vienna,  a  Madame  de  Soucy  being 
appointed  in  her  place  by  the  Directory,  and  the 
Princess  was  in  consequence  never  informed  of  her 
Uncle's  plans  for  her  future.  However,  Louis  XVIII 
wrote  also  to  the  Emperor  begging  for  the  charge  of 
Madame  Royale,  and  if  his  request  were  granted  he 
announced  the  intention  of  sending  her  to  Rome,  where 
she  would  be  confided  to  the  care  of  her  great-aunts, 
Madame  Adelaide  and  Madame  Victoire. 

This  request  was  refused  ;  and  Louis  XVIII  became 
more  and  more  anxious,  and  convinced  that  the 
Austrian  Court  were  nourishing  some  deeply  laid  plot 
to  their  own  advantage.  The  substitution — unknown 
to  him — of  Madame  de  Soucy  for  Madame  de  Tourzel 
had  indirectly  the  effect  of  causing  him  fresh  appre- 
hensions ;  for  when  the  Princess,  of  course  realising 
nothing  of  the  matrimonial  designs  for  her  which  the 
King  had  expressed  in  the  letter  addressed  to  Madame 
de  Tourzel,  wrote  to  him  on  her  journey  declaring 
her  affection  and  submission  to  his  behests,  but 
mentioning  nothing  about  the  matter  which  was  the 
dearest  wish  of  his   heart,   he   was  both  puzzled   and 


138  Louis  XVIII 

alarmed.  "  I  see  quite  well,"  he  says  in  his  answer 
to  this  unsatisfactory  communication,  "  that  your 
modesty,  a  praiseworthy  quality,  prevents  your  ex- 
plaining yourself  on  a  very  interesting  subject,"  and 
he  went  on  to  beg  the  Princess  to  write  something 
which  would  show  the  Due  d'Angouleme  that  she  was 
willing  to  accept  him  as  her  husband. 

Madame  Royale,  not  knowing  of  her  Uncle's  matri- 
monial designs  for  her,  must  have  been  almost  as 
disconcerted  by  his  letter  as  he  had  been  by  hers,  and 
the  position  of  this  girl  of  seventeen,  lately  liberated 
from  a  prison  in  which  she  had  heard  nothing  of  the 
outside  world,  to  find  herself  considered  a  person  of 
the  highest  importance,  and  surrounded  by  intrigues, 
was  a  strange  and  critical  one.  However,  she  at 
last  understood  the  King's  wishes,  and  was  equal 
to  the  occasion.  She  took  three  days  for  con- 
sideration, and  then  she  wrote  her  Uncle  a  long 
letter. 

"  Sire,"  she  said,  "  I  am  about  to  arrive  at  Vienna, 
where  I  shall  await  your  Majesty's  orders.  But  I 
warn  you  that  however  much  I  may  wish  to  hear  from 
you,  I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  be  able  to  write  often 
because  I  shall  certainly  be  under  close  observation. 
Already  on  my  journey  I  have  been  prevented  from 
meeting  French  people,  the  Emperor  wishing  to  see 
me  first,  and  fearing  that  I  should  learn  his  projects. 
I  have  known  them  for  a  long  time,  and  I  declare 
positively  to  my  Uncle  that  I  shall  always  remain 
faithfully  attached  to  him,  as  well  as  to  my  father's 
and  mother's  wishes  about  my  marriage,  and  that  I 
shall  reject  all  the  Emperor's  propositions  on  behalf 
of  his  brother.  I  will  not  submit  to  them.  My 
parents'   wish    is    contrary   to   them,  and   I    intend   in 


Madame   Royale's   Views  139 

everything  to  obey  my  Uncle's  orders.  I  should  like 
very  much  to  be  with  you  at  Verona  ;  but  I  will  do 
all  I  can  to  let  you  know  what  the  Emperor  may 
say  to  me. 

"  Uncle,  you  have  known  me  for  a  long  time  ;  but 
I  hope  that  you  will  never  doubt  me.  My  position 
is  very  difficult  and  delicate  ;  but  I  have  confidence 
in  the  God  who  has  hitherto  given  me  succour,  and 
brought  me  through  so  many  perils.  He  will  enable 
me  never  to  belie  the  illustrious  blood  which  flows 
in  my  veins.  I  should  prefer  unhappiness  with  my 
relations  while  they  are  unhappy,  to  remaining  at  the 
Court  of  a  Prince  who  is  hostile  to  my  family  and 
country."  l 

This  letter  was  naturally  received  with  joy  by  the 
King  and  d'Avaray,  who  were  ashamed,  as  the  King 
said  in  his  answer  to  his  niece,  of  ever  having  doubted 
her  ;  and  the  King  at  once  set  to  work  to  obtain  a 
dispensation  for  the  marriage  of  the  cousins.  In 
writing  about  this  to  the  Chevalier  d'Azara  at  Rome, 
Louis  XVIII  thus  expresses  his  reasons  for  objecting 
to  the  marriage  of  Madame  Royale  with  the  Archduke 
Charles. 

u  In  the  first  place,  a  little  pride  perhaps,  which  you 
will,  however,  think  well-founded,  makes  me  consider 
the  Emperor's  second  brother,  a  Prince  without  a 
kingdom,  without  the  hope  of  having  one,  as  his  two 
elder  brothers  have  children,  not  a  suitable  match  for 
the  only  daughter  of  the  late  King,  my  brother. 

"  Secondly,  I  will  not  give  my  consent  to  a  marriage 

which  would  without   doubt   be  considered  in  France 

as    a   means  and   a   first   step   to    the   dismemberment 

of  my  kingdom,  a  thing  to  which  my  subjects,  whether 

1  Ernest  Daudet,  Histoire  de  I' Emigration,  vol.  ii.  p.  148. 


140  Louis  XVIII 

loyal  or  disloyal,  feel  a  repugnance  as  natural  as 
invincible. 

"  Thirdly,  the  long  misfortunes  undergone  by  my 
niece,  her  courage,  and  virtues,  have  invested  her  with 
an  interest,  and  have  dowered  her  with  a  love  on  the 
part  of  the  French,  of  which  it  is  most  essential  for 
me  to  take  advantage,  and  to  appropriate  by  marrying 
her  to  my  successor." 

This  is  plain  speaking  ;  and  we  see  that  whereas 
affection  for  his  niece  and  a  desire  to  unite  the  family 
were  integers  in  Louis  XVIII's  scheme,  the  political 
aspect  of  the  situation  was,  as  usual,  always  in  the 
forefront  of  his  thoughts,  and  that  every  other  motive 
was  subordinated  to  his  desire  to  return  to  France  as 
King. 

Many  agitations  were  still  to  be  gone  through  before 
Madame  Royale  became  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme. 
At  first  there  seemed  a  disposition  at  Vienna  to  keep 
her  almost  in  the  position  of  a  political  prisoner,  and 
to  allow  her  to  see  none  of  her  countrymen.  The 
King  was  so  indignant  at  the  idea  of  this,  and  ex- 
pressed himself  so  strongly  on  the  subject,  that  his 
niece  was  obliged  to  write  to  try  to  calm  him,  for, 
as  the  Emperor  invariably  refused  to  answer  his  letters, 
she  was  the  only  channel  of  communication  between 
the  two  men.  Her  alarms  at  the  way  in  which  she 
was  likely  to  be  treated  in  Vienna,  alarms  only  too 
natural  when  we  remember  what  her  life  in  the  Temple 
had  been,  had  now  subsided,  and  she  seems  to  have 
been  very  happy  with  her  Austrian  cousins.  Masters 
were  provided  to  supplement  her  neglected  education, 
and  she  spent  her  time  with  the  young  Archduchesses. 
"  In  the  name  of  Heaven,"  she  writes  to  her  Uncle, 
"  I    beg   you  to  calm   yourself,   and  to  be  quite  per- 


Anxieties  about   Madame  Roy  ale        141 

suaded  that  I  am  not  a  captive  ;  if  I  were  I  should 
say  so  at  once,  and  should  not  be  happy  for  a  moment ; 
but  it  is  not  true." 

Madame  Royale  wrote  with  the  decision  which 
always  characterised  her,  but  Louis  XVIII  was  still 
anxious.  His  niece  was,  in  his  opinion,  becoming 
Austrianised,  for  she  evidently  believed  in  the  Emperor, 
whom  he  considered  absolutely  untrustworthy  ;  and  was 
contented  and  even  happy  among  her  mother's  re- 
lations. In  truth,  her  present  life  must  have  seemed 
like  Paradise  after  the  cruelty  of  her  imprisonment. 
"  You  have  no  idea  of  the  hardships  of  our  prison," 
she  writes  to  her  Uncle  ;  "  people  who  have  not  seen 
them  with  their  own  eyes  cannot  imagine  them.  Even 
I,  who  have  suffered  so  much,  find  it  almost  difficult 
to  believe  in  them.  My  aunt  and  I  did  not  know 
of  my  mother's  removal  to  the  Conciergerie,  and  then 
of  her  death.  I  was  only  told  it  in  '95.  My  aunt 
was  seized  away  from  me  to  be  put  to  death.  In  vain 
I  asked  why  we  were  separated.  They  shut  and  locked 
the  door  without  answering  me.  My  brother  died 
in  the  room  under  me,  and  they  left  me  in  ignorance 
of  it." 

It  would  not  have  been  surprising  had  Madame 
Royale's  brain  been  permanently  injured  by  the  solitary 
confinement  to  which  she  had  been  subjected  when 
almost  a  child,  but  she  came  out  from  prison  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  strong,  self-contained,  and  religious  ;  not 
pretty,  though  with  good  features  ;  brusque  in  manner, 
rough  in  voice,  and  absolutely  without  charm — a 
woman  whose  bravery  and  resignation  enabled  her  to 
shine  in  adversity,  but  who  in  prosperity  showed 
herself  totally  wanting  in  the  little  graces  which  invest 
Royalty  with   popularity.      Besides,  when  she  returned 


1 42  Louis  XVIII 

to  France  at  the  Restoration,  she  was  still  of  the  Ancien 
Regime,  and  with  her  father-in-law,  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  made  a  formidable  opposition  to  the  King's 
attempts  at  bringing  forward  a  liberal  policy. 

That  the  awful  sufferings  she  had  gone  through 
had  left  an  indelible  impression  on  her  nerves  and 
had  given  a  strange  twist  to  her  character  was  only 
to  be  expected,  and  Madame  de  Boigne,  writing  after 
the  Restoration  of  Louis  XVIII  to  the  throne  of 
France,  gives  a  curious  instance  of  the  results  of  this 
nervous  shock.     She   says  : 

"  The  Comtesse  de  Chatenay  was  often  taken  by  her 
mother,  the  Comtesse  de  la  Guiche,  to  see  Madame 
when  both  of  them  were  children.  Madame  remembered 
this,  and  treated  her  with  kindly  familiarity ;  she 
received  her  several  times  privately.  One  day  she  said 
to  her  :  '  Your  father  died  young,  did  he  not  ? '  Yes, 
Madame.  *  Where  did  he  die  ? '  Madame  de  Chatenay 
hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  answered,  '  Alas  ! 
Madame,  he  perished  on  the  scaffold  during  the 
Terror.'  Madame  recoiled  as  though  she  had  trodden 
on  an  asp  ;  a  moment  later  she  dismissed  Madame  de 
Chatenay.  And  from  that  day,  not  only  did  she  cease 
her  former  kindness,  but  she  treated  her  worse  than 
any  one  else,  and  avoided  speaking  to  her  whenever  she 
could.  I  do  not  attempt  to  explain  the  feeling  which 
dictated  this  conduct,  for  I  cannot  imagine  what  it  was. 
I  only  tell  the  story  faithfully."  x 

The  great  ladies  of  the  Restoration  evolved  a 
romantic  heroine  out  of  the  ".Orphan  of  the  Temple," 
but  when  they  discovered  that  in  spite  of  her  natural 
dignity  she  lacked  grace  of  manner,  they  made  few 
excuses  for  a  Princess  who  at  the  most  crucial  time  of 

1  Memoires  de  la  Comtesse  de  Boigne  (trans.),  vol.  i.  p.  316. 


Madame   Royale's   Character  H3 

her  life,  when  other  children  of  her  rank  were  receiving 
careful  instruction  to  fit  them  for  the  duties  awaiting 
them,  was  left  to  the  anguish  and  terror  of  complete 
solitude. 

Madame  Royale's  sufferings  had  not,  at  any  rate, 
broken  her  spirit,  for  on  several  occasions  she  showed 
the  greatest  personal  bravery.  She  grew  very  fond 
of  her  Uncle,  whose  courage,  though  of  a  passive 
nature,  equalled  her  own  ;  but  it  is  curious  to  see 
that,  even  in  these  early  days,  she  did  not  hesitate 
to  refuse  obedience  to  his  behests  when  he  proposed 
anything  repugnant  to  her  fearless,  straightforward 
nature. 

The  Abbe  Edgeworth  de  Firmon,  Louis  XVTs 
confessor,  after  lying  for  long  in  hiding,  had  managed 
to  escape  from  France  ;  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
year  1796  he  appeared  at  Blanckenburg,  where  he  was 
received  with  much  cordiality  and  delight  by  the  King, 
who  listened  with  the  utmost  emotion  to  the  account 
of  his  brother's  last  days,  and  wrote  at  once  to  tell 
his  niece  what  he  had  heard  from  the  Abbe.  At  the 
same  time,  with  his  usual  desire  to  turn  everything  to 
political  capital,  he  suggested  that  she  should  write  a 
grateful  letter  to  her  father's  confessor,  and  date  it 
from  the  day  on  which  she  had  gained  her  liberty. 
The  Princess,  however,  refused  firmly  to  do  this,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  her  Uncle  wrote  twice  to  her  on 
the  subject.  The  letter,  she  objected,  would  be  put 
into  the  papers,  and  she  disliked  publicity.  "  Besides," 
she  continued — and  we  cannot  help  feeling  that  the 
lesson  she  indirectly  inculcated  might  occasionally  have 
been  followed  with  advantage  by  her  Uncle — "  I  will 
not  hide  from  you  the  fact  that  to  antedate  my  letter 
would  cause  me  pain.     That  may  be    done    by  older 


i44  Louis  XVIII 

people,  and  for  business  which  requires  it.  But  it  is 
natural  to  my  age  and  to  my  character  to  be  as 
simple  and  exact  as  truth  is." 

Perhaps  it  was  Austrian  influence  which  about  this 
time  made  the  Princess  suddenly  susceptible  about  her 
dignity.  She  complained  to  the  King  that  her  future 
father-in-law,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  had  only  written  to 
her  once  in  eighteen  months,  while  the  Comtesse  d'Artois 
had  never  written.  The  great  aunts  at  Naples  kept  up 
a  regular  correspondence  with  her,  as  did  the  Queen 
of  France ;  but  she  had  received  no  communications  of 
any  sort  from  the  Due  de  Berry,  her  aunt  the  Queen 
of  Naples,  or  her  Spanish  cousins.  Unfortunately,  too, 
a  mishap  to  the  post  delayed  a  letter  from  the  King 
telling  her  that  the  Due  d'Angouleme  had  broken  his 
ankle,  so  that  she  saw  the  news  first  in  a  newspaper, 
and  was  naturally  indignant  that  no  one  should  con- 
sider it  worth  while  to  inform  her  of  her  fiance's 
accident. 

The  King  was  much  distressed  at  her  reproaches,  and 
in  spite  of  the  enormous  correspondence  entailed  by  the 
constant  repairing  of  the  meshes  of  the  spider's  web  of 
intrigue  which  reached  every  country  in  Europe,  he 
wrote  continually  and  affectionately  to  her  from  his 
uncomfortable  lodging  at  Blanckenburg,  and  tried  with 
the  utmost  care  and  tact  to  make  up  by  paternal 
tenderness  and  love,  for  the  shortcomings  of  the  rest  of 
the  Royal  Family.  He  also  asked  the  Marquis  de 
Bonnay,  who  happened  to  be  at  Vienna,  to  see  her,  and 
to  find  out  as  far  as  possible  what  was  her  state  of  mind. 
Bonnay  evidently  performed  his  task  with  the  utmost 
skill,  as  is  shown  by  his  letter  detailing  the  result  of 
his  interviews  with  the  Princess,  who  seemed  to  have 
accorded  him  full  confidence. 


Tactful   Management  145 

Bonnay  considered  that  Madame  Royale  must  not  be 
hurried  into  marriage,  because  if  pressed  too  far  she 
might  disobey  ;  and  disobedience  with  any  one  of  her 
character  would  mean  that  she  would  never  return  to 
submission,  while  she  would  be  backed  up  in  her 
rebellion  by  the  Austrian  Court.  Therefore  gentle 
methods  were  the  only  means  likely  to  be  successful. 
Madame  Royale  must  feel  herself  loved;  Monsieur,  who 
had  been  very  negligent,  must  write  often  and  affection- 
ately ;  and  above  all  things  the  Princess  must  be  told 
little  details  about  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  especially  such 
as  would  particularly  appeal  to  her  peculiar  character. 
She  was  very  devout;  the  Due  d'Angouleme  always 
fulfilled  his  religious  duties  with  punctuality,  and  had 
himself  asked,  before  he  left  Edinburgh,  to  perform  his 
devotions,  and  had  performed  them.  Why  had  not 
this  fact  been  related  to  her  ?  It  would  have  pleased 
her.  "  You  know,  Monsieur  le  Comte  "  [Bonnay  was 
writing  to  d'Avaray,  who  was  to  pass  on  the  letter  to 
the  King]  "  how  much  can  be  done  with  women  in 
general — and  why  not  with  Princesses  ? — by  making 
much  of  the  men  one  wants  them  to  love,"  and  he 
went  on  to  urge  that  every  possible  effort  should  be 
made  in  this  direction  with  Madame  Royale. 

It  seems  well  to  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  character 
of  the  man  destined  to  become  the  husband  of  "  the 
Orphan  of  the  Temple."  Quiet  and  shy,  cold  in 
temperament  and  distrustful  of  himself,  his  nervousness 
and  reserve  cloaked  many  valuable  qualities.  It  has  been 
said,  and  possibly  correctly,  that  had  Louis  XVIII 
outlived  the  Comte  d'Artois  and  been  followed  on  the 
throne  by  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  the  Bourbons  might 
not  have  lost  the  crown  of  France.  For  the  Due 
d'Angouleme  was  decidedly  liberal  in  his  opinions,  and 

10 


i46  Louis  XVIII 

followed   in   the   footsteps   of  his    Uncle,    rather    than 
in  those  of  the  Comte  d'Artois. 

The  young  man  had  first  joined  the  King  per- 
manently at  Blanckenburg,  after  having  spent  part  of 
his  youth  with  his  father  and  mother  at  Turin  ;  and 
then,  having  held  a  command  in  Conde's  army,  he 
had  also  visited  his  father  in  Scotland,  and  had  spent 
some  time  travelling  in  England.  His  had  not  been 
a  happy  childhood,  for  the  neglected  and  peculiar 
Comtesse  d'Artois  troubled  little  about  her  sons  ;  the 
King  of  Sardinia  considered  his  grandsons  a  trouble, 
and  was  only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  them  ;  while  the 
Comte  d'Artois  was  too  much  occupied  with  Madame 
de  Polastron,  as  well  as  with  political  scheming,  to  have 
much  tirhe  to  attend  to  his  family.  Louis  XVIII 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  person  who  took  any 
real  interest  in  the  young  men,  and  he  was  tenderly 
attached  to  both  of  them,  and  at  times  foolishly  in- 
dulgent to  the  weaknesses  of  the  Due  de  Berry.  The 
latter  was  the  soldier  of  the  family,  and,  like  his  father, 
a  man  of  many  love  affairs,  which  were  looked  upon 
with  little  indulgence  when  the  hero  of  them,  instead 
of  being  brother  to  a  powerful  monarch,  was  a  home- 
less, penniless  exile. 

The  Due  d'Angouleme,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
morally  irreproachable  ;  but  the  King  reproached  him 
affectionately  with  his  indolence  in  intellectual  matters, 
which  was  specially  unfortunate  because  the  future 
Duchesse  d'Angouleme  was  evidently  possessed  of 
superior  mental  powers.  Louis  XVIII  was  also  dis- 
tressed to  discover  that  his  nephew  approved  of  the 
representative  system  in  politics,  so  that  his  convic- 
tions showed  a  dangerous  affinity  to  those  held  by  the 
"  Monarchiens,"   or   Constitutional    Royalists,   who,  as 


The   Due   cPAngouleme's   Liberalism      147 

we  know,  were  even  more  dreaded  by  the  thorough- 
going exponents  of  the  Ancien  Regime  than  were  the 
Jacobins. 

The  King  felt  that  it  was  urgently  incumbent  on 
him  to  essay  the  task  of  converting  his  nephew  to  his 
own  admiration  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Ancien 
Regime  when  purged  of  abuses,  and  he  decided  that 
personal  teaching  would  be  necessary  to  show  the 
young  man  the  error  of  his  ways.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Comte  d'Artois  on  the  subject,  he  says  :  "  I  began  by 
trying  to  put  him  at  ease,  and  in  order  to  do  this  1 
hid  the  pain  I  felt,  in  finding  myself  reduced  to  con- 
verting on  so  essential  a  point  him  who  after  us  will 
wear  the  crown  of  Henri  IV." 

The  King  then  entered  on  his  exposition,  and 
considered  that  he  must  certainly  quickly  succeed  in 
bringing  his  nephew  over  to  his  own  convictions.  It 
was,  therefore,  disconcerting,  as  proving  that  the  poison 
of  liberalism  had  bitten  deep,  that  the  Due  d'Angou- 
leme,  after  listening  to  his  uncle's  arguments,  which 
were  no  doubt  expressed  with  much  eloquence,  still 
kept  to  the  opinion  that  when  the  King  should  in 
the  future  ascend  the  throne,  it  would  be  his  duty  to 
consult  the  people  of  France  as  to  the  Constitution 
they  might  prefer.  This  was  most  disappointing  ; 
but,  with  his  usual  optimism,  Louis  XVIII  refused 
to  despair  of  eventually  compassing  his  nephew's 
conversion,  little  thinking  that,  in  order  to  preserve 
his  position  as  King  of  France,  he  would  be  obliged 
himself  to  adopt  a  modified  edition  of  the  opinions  he 
now  reprobated  severely.  He  had  already  altered  the 
absolute  views  expressed  in  the  manifesto  he  had 
issued  on  assuming  the  title  of  King  ;  had  contem- 
plated  negotiations,   if  occasion   should  arise,  with  the 


148  Louis  XVIII 

Revolutionary  party  ;  and  had  even  announced  to  his 
agents  in  Paris  that  if  he  were  to  become  King,  his 
brother's  assassins,  whom  he  had  hitherto  threatened 
with  condign  punishment,  should  be  allowed  to  leave 
the  country  without  confiscation  of  their  property. 
This  was  an  extraordinary  modification  of  his  former 
declarations. 

The  King  had  long  been  anxious  to  leave  Blancken- 
burg  and  to  find  some  asylum  where  he  could  receive 
Madame  Royale,  and  where  it  would  be  possible  for 
the  marriage  between  her  and  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
to  take  place.  He  longed,  he  said,  to  have  his  chil- 
dren with  him  ;  and  among  the  bitter  disappointments 
which  he  underwent  when  all  his  plans  were  ruined 
by  the  unexpected  consolidation  of  the  Republic  in 
France,  the  one  star  of  hope  which  shone  on  his 
darkened  horizon  was  the  thought  of  this  much-longed- 
for  marriage.  In  answer  to  his  earnest  prayers,  the 
Czar  had  offered  him  a  home  in  Westphalia ;  but 
he  considered  that  this  was  too  near  Holland  for 
safety.  However,  the  victorious  Republican  armies 
seemed  to  cover  Europe,  and  while  the  King  hesitated, 
his  hand  was  forced  ;  for  the  Directory  commanded 
the  King  of  Prussia  to  banish  the  Comte  de  Pro- 
vence, and  the  Emigres  with  him,  from  the  Kingdom 
of  Brunswick. 

The  position  in  which  Louis  XVIII  now  found 
himself  was  tragic.  He  had  indeed  wished  to  leave 
Blanckenburg,  but  not  till  he  had  found  another  rest- 
ing-place, and  at  first  none  seemed  forthcoming. 
With  wise  prevision  he  had,  however,  applied  some 
time  before  to  Paul  I  of  Russia  for  an  asylum  in  his 
kingdom  ;  for,  as  his  hope  that  the  much-harried  Swiss 
would   rise    successfully   against   the    Republic   seemed 


Banishment   from   Blanckenburg  149 

doomed  to  disappointment,  he  felt  less  reluctance  to 
the  idea  of  exile  in  far-away  Russia.  It  was,  there- 
fore, with  extreme  relief  that  he  heard  from  Saint- 
Priest,  his  envoy  at  St.  Petersburg,  that  the  Czar 
offered  him  a  refuge  in  the  Chateau  of  Mittau  in 
Courland. 


CHAPTER    IX 

Trials  of  journey  from  Blanckenburg— Arrival  at  Mittau — Character  of 
the  Czar — Life  at  Mittau — Louis  XVIII's  character — Public  affairs 
— King  appeals  to  Bonaparte — The  latter's  reply — The  Revolution 
of  the  1 8th  Brumaire — The  Queen's  arrival — Disagreeables — 
Madame  Royale's  arrival — Her  marriage  to  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
— King's  reconciliation  to  the  Due  d'Orl£ans — Difficulties  with  the 
Comte  d'Artois — General  Fersen's  visit — Czar's  brutality — The 
King  and  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  are  driven  from  Russia. 

IN  spite  of  the  relief  the  King  experienced  at  the 
prospect  of  a  safe  asylum  in  Russia,  and  the 
pleasure  it  gave  him  to  feel  that  here  for  the  first 
time  he  would  be  treated  with  Royal  honours,  it  was 
with  a  sad  heart  that  he  prepared  to  start  in  bitter 
weather  on  his  tedious  and  tiring  journey  across  Europe. 
Mittau  would  be  exile  indeed,  and  going  there  seemed 
a  fresh  defeat  to  his  cause,  for  every  step  of  the  way 
carried  him  further  from  his  beloved  country  ;  and,  once 
surrounded  by  Russian  snows,  what  tidings  could  make 
their  way  to  him  ? 

His  only  consolation  was  that  Paul  I,  influenced  by 
Conde  and  Panin,  and  also  by  the  faithful  Saint-Priest, 
seemed  disposed  to  act  with  much  munificence.  Having 
already  established  the  Prince  of  Conde  in  a  magnificent 
palace  in  St.  Petersburg  and  taken  his  small  army  into 
his  service,  he  was  prepared  to  receive  Louis  XVIII 
with  Royal  honours,  and  to  grant  him  a  pension  of  two 
hundred  thousand  roubles.     Therefore  it  would   now 

be  possible  for  the  Queen  to  join  her  husband,  some  of 

150 


»tf<S..'     5V«~«  'X-'" 


Fr. 


ttg  liy  Anker  Smith,  A.R.A.,  from  a  picture 


given  bv  the  Empress  of  Russia  to  Sir  Home  Popham. 

PAUL    I., 


p.  150] 


CZAR    OF    RUSSIA. 


Journey   to   Mittau  151 

his  faithful  followers  might  be  summoned,  to  his  side, 
and  if  other  difficulties  could  be  surmounted,  the  goal 
of  his  hopes  might  at  last  be  in  view,  for  he  would  now 
be  able  to  provide  a  suitable  home  for  his  niece. 

Much  must  be  gone  through  first,  and  the  journey 
was  a  terrible  undertaking  to  one  as  stout,  gouty, 
and  prematurely  aged  as  was  the  unfortunate  King. 
"  Nothing  is  more  curious,"  says  one  who  saw  him 
both  at  Riegel  and  at  Mittau,  "  than  the  contrast 
between  that  beautiful  Royal  head  and  the  thickest, 
most  ungraceful  body  in  the  world."  l 

The  King  left  Blanckenburg  on  February  10th,  1798, 
made  his  first  halt  at  Kustrin,  a  small  town  near  Berlin, 
and  arrived  at  Mittau  on  March  13th.  The  intense  cold 
made  the  journey  extremely  painful  ;  the  inns  were  for 
the  most  part  miserable  hovels,  and  the  roads  often 
almost  impassable.  Occasionally  a  wheel  or  a  spring 
would  break,  and  once  it  was  necessary  for  men  to 
carry  the  carriage  ;  while  on  another  occasion,  owing 
to  the  flooding  of  the  Niemen,  it  was  impossible  to 
cross  by  the  usual  ford,  the  weight  of  the  heavy, 
lumbering  coach  sunk  the  boats  in  which  it  was  placed, 
and  eventually  the  river  was  only  crossed  after  a  long 
round  and  a  delay  of  twenty-four  hours. 

When  the  King  at  last  arrived  at  Mittau  his  con- 
dition must  have  been  pitiable,  though  his  spirit  was  as 
undaunted  as  ever. 

He  was  to  meet  with  many  misfortunes  and  humilia- 
tions in  Russia,  for  he  was  putting  himself  into  the 
power  of  a  despot  so  uncontrolled  in  his  passions  that 
he  was  almost  insane.  "  Variable,  suspicious,  whimsical, 
violent,  the  Czar  showed  himself  capable  of  the  most 
contrary  excesses.  His  generosity  was  that  of  a  despot, 
1  Souvenirs  du  Comte  de  la  Ferronays,  p.  160. 


152  Louis  XVIII 

as  his  fits  of  passion  were  those  of  a  madman.  What- 
ever he  fancied,  it  was  necessary  the  fancy  should  be 
fulfilled  at  the  very  time  when  it  crossed  his  mind,"  1 
says  the  Comte  de  la  Ferronays.  At  present  the  King 
was  tasting  his  generosity  ;  in  the  future  he  would  suffer 
bitterly  from  his  inconsiderate  cruelty. 

At  first,  the  only  request  made  by  Louis  XVIII 
which  was  refused  by  the  Czar,  was  that  of  allowing 
him  to  pay  a  visit  incognito  to  St.  Petersburg.  Other- 
wise, when  the  King  found  on  arriving  that  all  the 
Courland  nobility  had  come  out  to  receive  him,  and 
saw  the  vast  and  sumptuous  ducal  Chateau  of  Mittau, 
whose  architecture  somewhat  resembled  that  of 
Versailles,  he  must  have  felt  that  for  the  first  time 
during  his  wanderings  he  was  lodged  like  a  king. 

Other  impressions  were  not  so  agreeable.  Orders 
had  been  sent  by  the  Czar  to  the  Military  Governor  of 
Mittau,  that  the  French  soldiers  who  had  been  detached 
from  Conde's  army  to  act  as  guard  to  the  King,  were  to 
be  lodged  in  barracks  in  the  town,  and  were  to  submit 
to  Russian  military  discipline.  The  King  protested  at 
this,  wishing  his  soldiers  to  be  solely  under  his  orders, 
but  Paul  I  repeated  the  order,  and  matters  were  only 
modified  by  the  intervention  of  General  Fersen.2 

Now  began  quite  a  new  life  for  the  King.  The 
inhabitants  of  Courland  were  intellectual  and  refined, 
so  that  it  was  possible  to  find  enjoyment  in  intercourse 
with  them,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  a  small  Court, 
which  was  arranged  by  d'Avaray  on  the  lines  of  the 
most  pompous  and  particular  etiquette,  with  Almoners, 
a  First  Minister,  in  the  person  of  the  Comte  de  Saint- 
Priest,    a    Gentleman    of  the    Chamber,    a    Master  of 

1  Ferronays'  Souvenirs,  p.  160. 

*  Brother  to  Marie  Antoinette's  favourite,  Count  Fersen. 


Life  at   Mittau  153 

the  Ceremonies,  and  numerous  servants.  Later, 
the  households  of  the  Queen  and  of  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme  added  to  the  expensive  paraphernalia 
considered  necessary  to  keep  up  the  dignity  of  Royalty, 
with  the  result  that  the  King  was  always  in  debt,  and 
that  pressing  requests  for  money  occupied  much  of  his 
correspondence. 

Every  day  after  Mass  the  King  gave  audience.  The 
Governor  of  Courland  presented  the  visitors  to  the 
gentleman-in-waiting,  who  in  his  turn  presented  them 
to  the  King.  Louis  XVIII  was  always  affable,  and 
when  etiquette  was  not  infringed  by  the  invitation, 
would  ask  his  guest  to  dinner,  at  which  repast  he 
presided  with  his  usual  grace,  and  would  talk  with 
animation  on  intellectual  and  literary  subjects,  dis- 
playing great  powers  as  a  linguist,  and  a  wonderful 
fund  of  anecdote. 

Advancing  years,  while  completely  crippling  the 
King's  physical  powers,  which  had  never  been  robust, 
had  mellowed  and  widened  his  character.  The  conceit 
and  self-sufficiency  which  had  alienated  the  courtiers 
who  approached  the  Comte  de  Provence  at  the  French 
Court,  had  quite  disappeared,  and  those  who  were 
introduced  to  Louis  XVIII  at  Mittau  were  struck  by 
the  benevolent  and  kindly  bearing,  as  well  as  the  Royal 
dignity  of  the  man  who,  prematurely  aged  by  delicate 
health,  sorrow,  and  disappointment,  was  old  at  the  age 
of  forty-five.  The  smile  in  his  eyes,  that  beaming  and 
radiant  expression  with  which  he  greeted  his  friends,  is 
mentioned  as  particularly  attractive  by  several  people 
who  came  in  contact  with  him  now  or  later. 

He  was  on  most  subjects  astonishingly  open-minded, 

judged    his    enemies    without    harshness   or  acrimony, 

and  was   indulgent,   patient,   and    philosophical  about 


154  Louis  XVIII 

the  faults  of  others.  Now,  too,  the  jesting  spirit 
which  seemed  like  irritating  trifling  in  the  fastidious, 
luxurious  Comte  de  Provence,  stood  him  in  good  stead, 
for  in  the  midst  of  some  catastrophe  which  seemed  to 
portend  the  complete  downfall  of  his  most  cherished 
hopes,  he  would  invigorate  himself  with  a  laugh  at  any 
incongruous  incident  which  excited  his  sense  of  the 
ridiculous. 

Life  at  Mittau  might  have  been  pleasant  but  for  the 
bitter  cold  and  the  fact  that  it  was  exile — almost,  in 
fact,  imprisonment — for  it  was  impossible  to  leave  the 
Chateau  even  for  a  few  days  without  the  permission  of 
the  Czar  ;  and  this  would  certainly  have  been  denied. 
News  from  France  could  only  be  obtained  through 
Hamburg,  and  when  it  came  it  was  ever  more  and 
more  depressing  ;  in  fact,  during  the  King's  sojourn 
at  Mittau  so  untoward  were  events,  that  any  hope  of 
a  return  to  his  native  land  seemed  to  have  departed 
for  ever. 

At  first,  indeed,  matters  seem  reassuring,  for  in  1798 
and  1799  the  victorious  armies  of  the  Republic  had  so 
upset  the  arrangements  of  Europe  that,  after  many 
hesitations,  what  is  known  as  the  Second  Coalition  was 
formed,  and  Russia,  England,  Turkey,  Naples,  and 
Piedmont  prepared  to  range  themselves  in  battle  array 
against  France.  They  did,  indeed,  persist  in  refusing 
to  announce  that  their  intention  was  to  replace 
Louis  XVIII  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers,  but  the 
latter  was  immovable  in  his  opinion  that  in  order 
to  secure  the  peace  of  Europe  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  a  Bourbon  should  again  reign  over 
France  ;  and  felt  certain  that  the  Powers,  if  victorious, 
would  find  that  no  other  alternative  would  solve  the 
problem. 


His   Diplomacy  1 5  5 

Louis  XVIII  was  meantime  working  with  the 
utmost  energy  to  bring  over  French  generals  and 
legislators  to  the  Royalist  side.  He  was  sanguine 
about  a  negotiation  which  some  of  his  agents  pre- 
tended to  be  working  with  Barras  ;  the  defection  of  the 
Generals  Dumouriez,  Willot,  and  Pichegru  had  filled 
him  with  hope,  as  well  as  given  him  much  occupation 
in  the  way  of  correspondence  ;  while  at  the  end  of 
the  year  1799  ne  conceived  the  extraordinary  idea  of 
starting  negotiations  with  Napoleon,  who  was  then  in 
Egypt.  General  Berthier  was  to  be  the  intermediary 
between  the  King  and  the  successful  General,  and  it 
was  hoped  that  Napoleon's  wife  Josephine,  who  was 
supposed  to  have  leanings  towards  the  Royalist  side, 
would  use  her  influence  with  her  husband.  The  King 
opened  the  affair  by  writing  a  letter  to  Bonaparte, 
in  which  he  began  by  expressing  his  admiration  for  the 
General's  military  talents,  and  went  on  :  "  General, 
you  have  only  one  choice  to  make  ;  you  must  play 
the  part  of  Ccesar  or  of  Monk.  I  know  that  the 
destiny  of  the  first  would  not  alarm  you.  But  search 
your  own  heart,  and  you  will  find  that  the  brilliance  of 
his  victories  is  dimmed  by  his  usurpation,  while  the 
reputation  of  the  second  is  without  stain,  and  can  only 
be  dwarfed  by  the  one  which  awaits  you.  Say  one 
word,  and  the  same  Royalists  whom  you  perhaps  are 
going  to  fight  will  become  your  soldiers.  Give  back 
to  me  the  Army  which  has  always  been  victorious  under 
your  orders,  and  which,  led  by  a  chief  like  you,  will  in 
the  future  fight  only  for  the  good  of  the  kingdom. 
I  do  not  speak  to  you  of  your  King's  gratitude  ;  that 
of  all  future  generations  will  be  assured  to  you.  To 
finish,  if  I  were  addressing  any  one  but  Bonaparte, 
I    should  offer,  I   should  specify  rewards  ;  a  great  man 


156  Louis  XVIII 

must  himself  fix  his  fate  and  that  of  his  friends  ;  say 
what  you  want  for  yourself,  for  them,  and  the  moment 
of  my  Restoration  will  be  that  when  your  desires  shall 
be  fulfilled."  " 

This  letter  is  interesting,  as  showing  the  King's 
idea  of  the  arguments  likely  to  appeal  to  Napoleon. 
Eventually,  however,  a  shorter  one  was  substituted 
for  it,  which  was  answered  thus  several  months  later. 

"  I  have  received,  Sir,  your  letter.  I  thank  you  for 
the  polite  things  you  say  in  it  about  me.  It  is  of  no 
use  for  you  to  hope  any  longer  for  a  return  to  France. 
You  would  have  to  walk  over  a  hundred  thousand 
corpses.  Sacrifice  your  own  interests  to  the  repose  and 
happiness  of  France.  History  will  remember  you  for 
this.  I  am  not  without  sympathy  for  the  misfortunes 
of  your  family.  I  shall  contribute  with  pleasure  to  the 
happiness  and  tranquillity  of  your  retreat. 

"  Bonaparte."  l 

This  insulting  letter  was  dated  20th  Fructidor  of 
the  year  VIII;  in  other  parlance,  August  7th,  1800. 
Napoleon  had,  however,  answered  Louis  XVIII's  letter 
in  a  practical  manner  some  months  earlier,  when,  on 
November  9th  and  10th,  1799,  he  had  seized  the 
supreme  power  by  what  is  known  as  the  Revolution  of 
the  1 8th  Brumaire,  and  thus  had  imposed  on  the  King 
fifteen  more  years  of  exile.  The  beating  back  of  the 
Allies,  the  drawing  up  of  the  Code  Napoleon,  and  the 
arrangement  with  the  Pope  known  as  the  Concordat, 
followed  each  other  in  quick  succession  ;  and  in  the 
excitement  of   fresh    conquests    France    tolerated    the 

1  Daudet,  Histoire  de  V Emigration,  vol.  ii.  p.  371. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  436. 


Negotiations  for  Madame  Royale's  Marriage  157 

military  despotism  to  which  she  was  subjected,  while, 
as  far  as  the  majority  of  his  countrymen  were  con- 
cerned, the  "  King  of  Mittau  "  was  completely 
forgotten. 

Meanwhile,  as  soon  as  Louis  XVIII  arrived  in 
Russia,  he  started  negotiations  to  bring  about  as 
quickly  as  possible  the  marriage  between  Madame 
Royale  and  the  Due  d'Angouleme.  The  Czar  helped 
him  with  a  generous  present  of  money,  the  Austrian 
Court  put  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  departure  of 
the  Princess,  and  on  September  11th,  1798,  the  King 
was  able  to  write  joyfully  to  the  Queen,  the  Comte 
and  Comtesse  d'Artois,  his  aunts  in  Rome,  his  sister 
the  Queen  of  Sardinia,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Spain, 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  the  Due  de  Berry,  the  Pope,  and 
his  agents  in  Paris,  to  announce  the  joyful  news  that, 
thanks  to  the  friendship  of  the  Czar  and  the  goodwill 
of  the  Emperor  Francis,  the  obstacles  which  stood  in 
the  way  of  Madame  Royale  becoming  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme,  were  removed. 

The  date  of  the  marriage  was  not  yet  fixed,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  postpone  it  for  a  time,  as  Madame 
Royale  objected  to  a  journey  to  Russia  in  the  middle 
of  winter,  but  the  King  found  much  occupation  in 
forming  the  household  of  the  future  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme.  On  this  subject  he  had  many  dis- 
cussions with  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who  was  not  in  his 
opinion  sufficiently  particular  as  to  the  moral  character, 
as  well  as  the  popularity  in  France,  of  the  ladies  with 
whom  he  proposed  to  surround  his  daughter-in-law. 
Other  more  painful  discussions  were  in  store  for  the 
King,  for  the  Queen,  from  whom  he  had  long  been 
parted,  was  now  to  leave  Budweiss,  and  to  take  up  her 
abode    at    Mittau.       Though    the    Royal    couple    had 


158  Louis  XVIII 

always  corresponded  affectionately,  a  certain  estrange- 
ment had  been  caused  between  them  by  the  King's 
friendship  with  Madame  de  Balbi,  and  now  that  it  was 
at  last  possible  for  him  to  have  his  wife  to  live 
with  him,  he  must  have  looked  forward  with  a  certain 
amount  of  misgiving  to  her  arrival. 

In  the  Queen's  youth  her  attractions  had  not  been 
great,  and  now  she  was  an  ugly  little  woman,  whose 
ailments — partly  real  and  partly  imaginary — occupied 
her  thoughts  almost  exclusively,  whose  caprices,  fancies, 
and  sudden  impulses  made  her  a  difficult  person  to  live 
with,  who  wore  extraordinary  and  very  often  dirty 
costumes,  and  was  more  than  suspected  of  an  inclination 
to  intemperance.  On  one  point  the  King  was  determined 
to  exercise  his  marital  authority  with  decision.  The 
Queen  was  completely  under  the  influence  of  Madame 
de  Gourbillon,  who,  according  to  the  King,  extorted 
jewels  and  large  sums  of  money  from  her,  and  wore 
her  clothes  ;  in  fact,  was  on  terms  with  her  which  were 
not  at  all  suitable  in  her  Majesty's  present  position  as 
Queen.  Therefore  he  was  determined  that  Madame 
de  Gourbillon  should  not  accompany  her  mistress  to 
Mittau  ;  and,  after  having  had  to  insist  on  a  reduction 
of  the  sumptuous  equipage  which  was  to  accompany 
his  spouse  on  her  journey,  he  wrote  : 

"  If  my  prayers  and  my  friendship  have  no  effect  on 
you,  if  you  can  decide  to  compromise  me  with  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  who,  from  your  resistance,  will 
have  a  most  strange  idea  of  us  both,  Madame  de 
Gourbillon  can  come  to  Mittau.  But  I  swear  to  you, 
for  my  part,  that  she  shall  not  set  foot  in  the  Chateau, 
and  that  I  will  not  answer  for  what  the  Emperor  may 
decide  about  her."  x 

1  Histoire  de  V  Emigration,  vol.  ii.  p.  360. 


p.  158] 


From  an  engraving. 
MARIE    JOSEPHINE    LOUISE    DE    SAVOIE, 

(QUEEN    OF    FRANCE),    COMTESSE    DE    PROVENCE. 


The   Queen's   Arrival  159 

The  Queen,  however,  was  equally  determined  ;  or 
possibly  was  forced  to  obey  Madame  de  Gourbillon's 
behests.  At  any  rate,  she  wrote  to  the  Czar  begging 
that  the  King  might  be  obliged  to  receive  her  companion, 
which  request  the  Czar  did  not  answer,  but  sent  on  to 
the  King,  who,  on  his  side,  obtained  an  order  from  his 
Royal  host  that  Madame  de  Gourbillon  should  not  be 
allowed  to  enter  Mittau,  but  should  be  imprisoned  in 
some  town  on  the  frontier. 

Therefore,  when  on  the  evening  of  June  2nd,  1799, 
the  procession  of  the  Queen's  carriages  passed  through 
the  town  on  its  way  to  the  Chateau,  the  carriage  con- 
taining Madame  de  Gourbillon  was  separated  from  the 
rest  and  driven  to  the  Governor's  house,  where  the 
Governor  told  her  that  she  was  to  be  conducted  to 
the  frontier.  Standing  at  the  top  of  the  steps  leading 
to  the  hall  door,  with  an  interested  crowd  about  her, 
she  abused  Louis  XVIII  in  the  most  violent  terms. 
Meanwhile,  the  Queen  had  arrived  at  the  Chateau,  and 
finding  her  companion  was  not  with  her,  she  threw 
herself  into  a  state  of  violent  excitement  and  wept 
bitterly,  refusing  to  go  to  her  apartment,  and  crying 
that  she  would  rather  leave  Mittau  than  be  separated 
from  her  faithful  friend.  Louis  XVIII,  horrified  at 
this  distressing  and  unbecoming  scene,  was  obliged  to 
assert  his  authority,  and  declare  that  he  would  not 
allow  her  to  leave  Mittau  ;  and  at  last  she  consented 
to  go  into  her  own  rooms  and  take  off  her  travelling 
garments. 

The  Queen's  arrival  was  certainly  a  most  unpleasant 
— even  a  scandalous — affair.  However,  the  next  day 
all  disagreements  were  forgotten  in  the  long-desired 
arrival  of  Madame  Royale.  Everything  had  been 
prepared  for  her  with  the  greatest  care.      The  suite  of 


160  Louis  XVIII 

rooms  destined  for  her  use  faced  south,  and  that  her 
future  husband  occupied  looked  north  ;  but  hearing  that 
she  did  not  like  a  south  aspect,  the  King  at  once  offered 
to  change  the  rooms,  and  declared  that  although  the 
southern  set  of  rooms  were  prettier,  and  the  Due 
d'Angouleme  also  feared  the  heat,  he  was  sure  that  the 
latter  would  be  most  willing  to  make  this  small  sacrifice 
for  Madame  Royale's  sake. 

Madame  Royale,  however,  with  much  good  sense — 
for  a  northern  aspect  in  Russia  does  not  sound  at- 
tractive— said  she  would  much  prefer  the  suite  of 
rooms  already  arranged  for  her,  and  the  King's  mind 
was  set  at  rest  on  this  point.  He  was,  however, 
occupied  with  many  plans  for  her  pleasure  and  comfort. 
He  had  left  a  collection  of  diamonds  at  Coblentz  with 
his  uncle,  the  Elector  of  Treves,  and  he  sent  her  the 
receipt  that  she  might  be  able  to  obtain  them.  He 
was  most  anxious,  too,  to  know  about  her  tastes,  and 
had  already  provided  materials  for  drawing,  while,  if 
she  cared  for  reading,  he  assured  her  that  she  would 
find  plenty  of  books  at  Mittau.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  was  evidently  rather  relieved  that  she  resembled  him 
in  indifference  for  music,  and  remarked  that  a  piano 
would,  under  the  circumstances,  be  a  useless  piece  of 
furniture. 

The  third  of  June,  1799,  was  probably  the  happiest 
day  the  King  had  passed  since  he  left  France. 
Refreshed  with  her  night's  rest,  the  Queen  had  allowed 
herself  to  be  coaxed  into  propriety  of  behaviour,  and 
was  after  all  glad  to  be  again  with  her  husband, 
especially  on  so  important  an  occasion  as  the  arrival 
of  Madame  Royale.  Accompanied  by  the  Due 
d'Angouleme,  the  King  and  Queen  drove  to  the 
outskirts  of  Mittau  to  meet  their  niece,  who  left  her 


Madame   Royale's   Marriage  161 

carriage  as  soon  as  she  saw  them.  The  King  also 
descended  from  his  as  quickly  as  his  size  and  crippled 
limbs  would  permit,  and  Madame  Royale  at  once 
threw  herself  at  his  feet.  He  embraced  her  most 
affectionately,  as  did  the  Queen.  Next  came  the  turn 
of  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  who  was  so  shy  and 
embarrassed  that,  after  having  kissed  his  cousin's  hand, 
he  could  only  manage  to  stammer  a  few  unintelligible 
words. 

The  King,  on  the  other  hand,  was  radiant  with  joy, 
and  when  the  party  arrived  at  the  Chateau  of  Mittau, 
his  voice  could  be  heard  calling  out  : 

"  Here  she  is  !  Here  she  is  ! "  while  every  one 
rushed  out  to  gaze  on  "  the  Orphan  of  the  Temple." 
It  was  a  moment  of  triumph,  the  realisation  of  a  hope, 
which  at  times — in  spite  of  his  courage  and  serenity — 
must  have  seemed  well-nigh  unattainable.  Something 
of  his  contriving  had  at  last  succeeded.  While  all  his 
other  carefully  prepared  schemes  had  fallen  about  his 
ears  like  shaken  card  castles,  the  edifice  of  the  Bourbon 
marriage  remained  intact,  a  memorial  to  his  diplomatic 
tact  and  determination. 

The  marriage  was  celebrated  in  the  Chapel  of  Mittau 
on  June  ioth,  1799,  and  it  was  remarked  that  the  bride 
showed  intense  emotion  when  the  names  of  her  unfor- 
tunate parents  were  read  in  the  contract. 

During  the  tragic  year  1800,  when  misfortune  after 
misfortune  accumulated  on  Louis  XVIII's  head,  and 
no  nation  in  Europe  seemed  strong  enough  to  cope 
with  the  ever-victorious  arms  of  the  French  First 
Consul,  when  the  Queen,  in  anger  at  her  separation 
from  Madame  de  Gourbillon,  refused  for  days  to  speak 
to  him  or  to  d'Avaray,  when  even  to  his  sanguine  mind 
the    hope    of  returning  to   far-off    France   must    have 

1 1 


1 62  Louis  XVIII 

seemed  chimerical,  and  when  among  many  other  more 
pressing  troubles,  the  recollection  of  the  defection  of  the 
woman  who  had  pretended  to  love  him  must  occasionally 
have  stabbed  him,  the  presence  of  his  "  Angel  of 
Consolation,"  the  brave  girl  whose  courage  had  never 
failed  in  trials  which  were  even  greater  than  his  own, 
may  well  seem  to  have  been  almost  the  only  ray  of 
comfort  vouchsafed  him  in  a  harsh,  unfriendly  world. 

The  reconciliation  between  the  elder  branch  of  the 
Bourbon  Family  and  the  young  Due  d'Orleans,  afterwards 
Louis  Philippe,  who  had  been  compromised  by  the 
disloyalty  of  his  infamous  father,  Philippe  Egalite, 
during  the  Revolution,  but  who  now  offered  his 
submission  to  Louis  XVIII,  was  indeed  cheering  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  King  was  much  worried  at  this 
time  by  the  refusal  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  who  was 
at  present  at  Edinburgh,  to  acknowledge  his  authority 
or  to  submit  to  his  decrees. 

As  Comte  de  Provence  and  Comte  d'Artois,  the  two 
brothers  had  been  more  or  less  on  the  same  footing  ; 
but  now  that  the  elder  one  had  assumed  the  title  of 
King,  he  resented  the  fact  that  the  Comte  d'Artois  was 
inclined  to  take  an  independent  line,  and  to  treat  his 
orders  with  the  same  disregard  that  the  two  brothers 
combined  had  shown  to  the  injunctions  of  the 
unfortunate  Louis  XVI.  A  like  feeling  existed 
in  both  cases,  for  the  Comte  d'Artois  was  most 
anxious  to  serve  his  brother's  cause,  but  considered 
that,  Louis  XVIII's  abode  being  in  far-off  Russia, 
it  was  often  necessary  to  act  without  waiting  to 
hear  from  him.  Besides,  it  must  be  allowed  that 
the  Comte  d'Artois  loved  to  come  to  the  front, 
and  to  play  his  own  hand  in  a  lighthearted,  incautious 
fashion. 


The  Czar's   Summons  163 

One  domestic  worry  ceased  before  Louis  XVIII 
left  Russia,  for  the  Queen,  whose  feeble  health  could 
not  stand  the  inclement  climate,  and  who  had  been 
sent  two  or  three  times  to  health  resorts,  left  Mittau 
in  1 800  for  a  longer  time  than  usual,  her  doctors 
considering  it  advisable  that  she  should  not  make 
the  journey  to  Russia  between  two  seasons  of  her 
cure. 

As  matters  turned  out,  it  was  several  years  before 
she  returned  to  Mittau;  for,  on  January  14,  1801, 
General  Fersen  appeared  at  the  Chateau  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  and  in  the  utmost  agitation  ;  and  told 
d'Avaray  that  he  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the 
Czar  to  the  King,  saying  that  he  would  continue 
to  pay  his  pension,  but  advised  him  to  follow  the 
Queen  to  Germany.  Fersen's  emotion  became  more 
and  more  evident  as  he  continued  his  story,  and 
as  he  listened  d'Avaray  grew  even  more  indignant, 
so  that  they  were  both  much  excited  when  they  went 
to  tell  the  King  what  had  happened. 

For  some  time  Paul  I  had  begun  to  tire  of  his 
troublesome  guests.  He  had  conceived  a  great  admira- 
tion for  Napoleon,  and  he  was  disgusted  with  the  Allies, 
partly  because  England  refused  to  give  up  Malta  to 
the  Knights  of  the  Order  of  St.  John,  of  whom  he  was 
Grand  Master,  and  partly  because  the  Coalition  was 
unsuccessful  against  the  ever-victorious  First  Consul 
of  France.  Besides,  a  clever  adventuress,  who  called 
herself  the  Comtesse  de  Bonneuil,  and  who  wished  to 
punish  Louis  XVIII  for  refusing  to  make  use  of  her 
proffered  services,  was  intriguing  to  injure  the  Bourbon 
cause  in  St.  Petersburg ;  and  in  league  with  La 
Bonneuil  was  Madame  de  Gourbillon,  the  King's  most 
bitter  enemy. 


164  Louis  XVIII 

Intrigues,  enthusiasms,  and  political  resentments  had 
done  their  work  ;  and  the  capricious  despot  had  with- 
drawn from  the  Coalition,  refused  to  assist  Dumouriez, 
who  had  come  over  to  St.  Petersburg  prepared  to 
fight  for  the  Royalist  cause,  and  suddenly,  and  with- 
out any  apparent  reason,  ordered  Louis  XVlII's 
Ambassador,   Caraman,  to  leave  St.   Petersburg. 

Louis  XVIII  had  written  a  humble  letter  to  the 
Czar,  asking  to  be  told  how  his  Ambassador  had 
offended,  and  the  answer  to  this  was  now  brought  by 
Fersen.  It  was  not  written  by  Paul,  but  by  his 
Minister,  Rostopchine,  and  it  ran  as  follows  :  "  The 
Emperor  orders  me  to  answer,  as  he  does  not  wish 
himself  to  say  disagreeable  things  to  the  King.  His 
Majesty  ought  not  to  intervene  in  favour  of  Monsieur 
de  Caraman,  who  is  an  intriguer,  and  has  given  the 
Emperor  just  cause  for  displeasure.  The  Emperor 
intends  to  be  master  in  his  own  land.  He  is  sorry  to 
remind  the  King  that  hospitality  is  a  kindness,  not 
a  duty."  a 

The  King  managed  to  control  his  indignation  ;  and 
Fersen  translated  to  him  the  second  letter  he  had 
brought,  which  must,  he  said,  be  answered  within  two 
hours.  It  was  written  in  German,  and  it  ordered  the 
King  to  follow  the  Queen  to  Kiel  without  delay. 
Unfortunately  the  Queen  was  not  at  Kiel,  but  was 
established  in  merely  temporary  fashion  at  a  health 
resort ;  and  the  unfortunate  King  cried  in  despair  : 
"  There  is  not  in  the  whole  world  a  corner  where 
I  can  rest  my  head  !  " 

Left  together,  the  King  and  d'Avaray  consulted 
about  the  best  course  to  take  ;  and  after  an  interview 
with  the  Duchess  d'Angouleme,  in  which  she  showed 

1  Daudet,  Histoire  de  V Emigration,  vol.  iii.  p.  204. 


The  Czar's   Brutality  165 

her  usual  courage,  as  well  as  her  tenderness  for  her 
Uncle,  the  King  wrote  to  the  Czar  as  follows  : 

"  Sire,  my  brother  and  cousin.  The  infantry  General 
Baron  de  Fersen  has  performed  the  commission  to  me 
entrusted  to  him  by  your  Imperial  Majesty.  Your 
Imperial  Majesty  has  not  been  correctly  informed  as 
concerns  the  Queen,  my  wife.  Obliged  again  this  year 
to  take  the  waters  of  Pyrmont,  and  unable  to  remain 
in  a  place  which  is  not  habitable  in  the  winter,  her 
health,  besides,  not  allowing  her  to  make  such  a 
journey  twice  in  so  short  a  time,  she  has  sought 
and  found  with  much  trouble,  a  place  where  she  can 
wait  for  the  season  to  take  the  waters,  which  cannot, 
in  any  case,  either  for  me  or  for  her,  be  a  settled  place 
of  abode  ;  if  it  had  been  otherwise  I  would  have 
informed  your  Imperial  Majesty  of  the  fact.  I  will 
make  my  preparations,  and  the  passports  sent  by  your 
Imperial  Majesty  will  find  me  ready  to  start,  without 
knowing  where  to  repose  my  head  ;  which  would  not 
matter  so  much  for  me,  but  the  case  is  the  same  for 
my  niece." 

The  position  of  affairs  was  heartrending  ;  for  the 
last  pension  owing  to  the  King  had  not  been  paid, 
and  till  the  arrival  of  some  money  he  had  raised  by 
loan  at  Riga,  he  was  penniless. 

The  next  communication  from  the  Czar  consisted 
of  the  King's  letter  returned  unopened,  the  necessary 
passports,  and  orders  to  leave  Mittau  without  delay. 
When  Fersen  was  obliged  to  be  the  bearer  of  this 
brutal  message,  which  might  possibly  be  the  King's 
death-warrant — a  journey  through  Russia  in  the 
depths  of  winter  being  a  terrible  undertaking  for  an 
invalid — he  broke  down  altogether.  The  King  for 
a  time  preserved   his  equanimity,  and  then,  as  Fersen 


1 66  Louis  XVIII 

stood  before  him,  he  suddenly  began  to  weep.  Even 
his  serenity  and  courage  deserted  him,  as  he  remem- 
bered that  this  was  the  day  before  the  anniversary  of 
his  brother's  death,  and  that  he,  a  miserable  homeless 
wanderer,  was  being  hunted  with  the  utmost  con- 
tumely out  of  his  only  available  refuge  ;  while  in 
France  the  Corsican  usurper  was  firmly  fixed  in  a 
position  of  supremacy. 

Fersen,  with  considerable  courage  considering  that 
Paul  I  had  established  a  reign  of  terror  throughout 
the  kingdom,  took  the  responsibility  of  promising  the 
King  that  the  departure  from  Mittau  should  be  put 
off  for  a  day,  that  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  might 
not  be  disturbed  on  the  anniversary  of  her  father's 
death  ;  and  the  King  went  at  once  to  visit  his  niece, 
whom  he  found  kneeling  before  the  Abbe  Edgeworth. 
She  received  her  Uncle's  melancholy  news  with  the 
utmost  courage,  and  did  her  best  to  offer  consolation, 
saying  she  would  always  be  happy  if  she  could  be 
near  him. 

The  next  day,  fear  of  the  capricious  despot  who 
governed  Russia  did  not  prevent  a  crowd  of  people 
coming  to  the  Chateau  to  express  their  sorrow  at  the 
departure  of  the  Bourbon  Family.  Nearly  all  the 
nobility  of  Courland  appeared  to  pay  their  respects  to 
the  French  King.  But  the  visitors  were  not  all  great 
and  affluent,  for  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  had  always 
been  most  kind  to  the  poor  ;  and  peasants — old  men, 
women,  and  children — thronged  to  the  Castle,  and, 
pressing  forward,  tried  to  kiss  the  hands  of  the  King 
and  Princess,  and  to  show  their  sympathy  for  them. 

Meanwhile  many  and  anxious  were  the  consultations 
at  Mittau  ;  for  it  was  difficult  to  know  in  which 
country   there  was  hope   of  a   resting-place.     Sweden 


Departure   from   Mittau  167 

and  Norway  were  friendly,  but  it  would  be  impossible 
to  travel  there  in  the  winter  ;  and  equally  impossible 
to  reach  the  territory  of  the  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies, 
as  the  countries  it  would  have  been  necessary  to 
traverse  to  arrive  in  Italy  were  occupied  by  French 
troops.  The  Viennese  Court  was  unfriendly  to  the 
Bourbons,  and  would  be  certain  to  refuse  them  an 
asylum  ;  while  England  was  undesirable,  as  Napoleon 
had  announced  her  to  be  France's  most  dangerous 
enemy,  and  it  would  in  consequence  hurt  French  sus- 
ceptibilities for  the  King  to  take  refuge  there.  Spain,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  unavailable,  because  of  its  relations 
with  France.  Therefore,  the  dominions  of  the  King 
of  Prussia  seemed  the  only  place  in  which  to  find 
a  refuge,  and  Caraman,  the  King's  late  Ambassador 
to  St.  Petersburg,  was  at  once  despatched  to  ask 
Frederick  William  of  Prussia  for  leave  to  reside  at 
Warsaw,  while  the  King  awaited  the  answer  at  Memel, 
the  first  town  beyond  the  Russian  frontier. 

On  January  22nd,  the  King  and  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme,  travelling  under  the  names  of  the  Comte 
de  l'lsle  and  the  Comtesse  de  Meilleraye,  started  on  their 
painful  and  perilous  journey.  The  King  had  recovered 
his  serenity  and  power  of  making  the  best  of  everything  ; 
the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme's  high  spirit  and  fortitude 
did  not  desert  her,  and  never  had  the  Royal  fugitives 
found  courage  more  requisite  than  now.  It  was 
snowing  and  was  bitterly  cold,  when  the  two  carriages 
containing  d'Avaray,  the  Duchesse  de  Serent,  the 
Due  de  Fleury,  Mademoiselle  de  Choisy,  the  Abbe 
Edgeworth,  and  three  servants,  besides  the  King  and 
the  Princess,  started  across  the  huge  white  plains  sur- 
rounding Mittau.  The  travellers  drove  all  day,  and 
the    first    evening   they   were    lodged    by  a  hospitable 


1 68  Louis  XVIII 

gentleman  of  the  country,  but  the  two  succeeding 
nights  their  only  refuge  for  the  night  was  in  a  miserable 
wayside  inn.  On  the  fourth  day  of  the  journey  the 
hardships  and  dangers  were  terrible,  for  a  bitter  wind 
was  blowing  which  raised  the  snow  in  whirlwinds,  and 
rendered  the  road  impassable  for  the  heavy  carriages, 
weighed  down  by  their  occupants.  The  only  possible 
means  of  making  any  headway  was  for  all  the  travellers 
to  walk  ;  and  the  unfortunate  King,  supported  by  his 
niece  and  an  attendant,  had  to  make  his  way  through 
the  thick  snow  as  best  he  could,  impeded  by  his 
crippled  condition,  and  driven  back  by  the  driving 
snow  and  bitter  wind. 


CHAPTER   X 

Arrival  at  Memel— The  King's  philosophy — Arrival  at  Warsaw — Life 
there— D'Avaray's  bad  health — First  appearance  of  Blacas — 
King's  anxieties — The  Due  de  Berry — Napoleon's  proposition — 
Louis  XVIIl's  answer — Napoleon  becomes  Emperor — Louis  XVIII 
goes  to  Sweden — Not  allowed  to  return  to  Warsaw — Second  sojourn 
at  Mittau — Returns  to  Sweden — Goes  to  England — Difficulties — 
Gosfield — Hartwell — Death  of  the  Queen — D'Avaray  at  Madeira — 
His  death. 

THE  King  viewed  his  summary  expulsion  from 
Russia  with  his  usual  philosophy,  and  wrote 
letters  from  Memel,  in  which  he  praised  his  niece  for 
her  courage  and  devotion  to  him,  spoke  gratefully 
of  the  kindness  shown  to  him  by  General  Fersen, 
the  nobility  of  Courland,  and  the  people  generally, 
and  even  had  a  word  of  gratitude  for  the  tyrant  who 
had  expelled  him  brutally  from  his  kingdom.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Queen,  to  whom  he  is  naturally  more 
confidential  than  to  his  other  correspondents,  he  does 
indeed  speak  of  being  "  chased  from  Mittau  like  a 
rogue,"  and  complain  of  the  barbarity  and  insolence 
of  the  Governor,  who,  while  pretending  to  conduct  a 
sale  of  the  furniture,  allowed  it  to  be  pillaged  ;  but 
even  after  describing  this  and  scenes  of  a  like  nature, 
he  adds,  "  These  are  great  infamies.  Here  is  the  reverse 
of  them  :  delicate  attentions,  tender  interest,  succour 
of  all  kinds  in  the  form  of  horses,  carriages,  provisions, 
money, — this    is   what   we  unfortunates  have  received 

from  the  people  of  Courland  ;  and  not  from  one,  from 

169 


i7o  Louis  XVIII 

a  few,  but  from  all,  from  the  man  who  dined  con- 
stantly with  us  as  well  as  the  grocer  at  the  corner 
of  the  street.  Here  details  would  only  weaken  the 
effect,  so  set  your  imagination  to  work.  Amuse  your- 
self by  inventing  what  you  can  conceive  as  most 
touching,  as  showing  most  ingenuity  in  kindness  ;  you 
will  still  have  understated  the  truth." 

During  this  time  Caraman  worked  hard  at  Berlin. 
At  first  Frederick  William  would  only  give  the  King 
permission  to  stay  at  Memel  ;  but  later,  hearing  that 
the  all-powerful  First  Consul  of  France  did  not  object 
to  the  Bourbon  Family  finding  an  asylum  in  Prussia, 
he  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  Queen  Louise,  to  whom 
the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  had  written  on  arriving  at 
Memel,  and  allowed  the  King,  as  Comte  de  l'lsle,  to 
remain  temporarily  at  Warsaw,  though  he  refused  to 
pay  his  expenses  there. 

The  journey  to  Warsaw  was  not  accomplished 
without  adventure,  for  at  one  point  the  ice  in  a  half- 
frozen  ditch  gave  way  under  the  weight  of  the  carriage. 
Once  a  horse  was  drowned  crossing  a  ford  and  the 
others  had  a  narrow  escape  of  sharing  its  fate,  and 
when  the  travellers  reached  Prague  the  Vistula  had 
risen  so  high  that  two  days  passed  before  they  were 
able  to  enter  the  town.  "  Nevertheless,"  says  the 
King  with  unconquerable  cheerfulness,  "  the  result  of 
all  this  is  that  my  niece  is  well,  and  that  I,  who  in 
consequence  of  the  upset  remained  two  hours  with 
my  feet  in  the  snow  or  on  the  ice,  with  the  rain  falling 
on  me,  and  might  in  reason  expect  a  cold  or  the  gout 
from  the  exposure, — I  am  insolent  enough  to  be  as 
well  as  possible." 

The  King  only  considered  Warsaw  a  temporary 
residence,    as    he    hoped    eventually    to    be   granted   a 


His   Three   Years   in   Warsaw  17 I 

refuge  in  the  dominions  of  the  King  of  the  Two 
Sicilies.  The  Polish  nobility  received  him  with  en- 
thusiasm, and. he  spent  the  winter  in  the  house  of  the 
Princess  Palatine  of  Cracow,  moving  in  the  summer  out 
of  the  city  to  the  Palace  of  Lazienski,  which  belonged 
to  the  King  of  Prussia.  At  Warsaw  he  lived  simply, 
appearing  in  the  streets  without  Royal  trappings  and 
almost  without  suite,  and  leading  so  quiet  a  life  that 
even  Bonaparte's  police,  who  were  set  to  watch  him, 
could  find  nothing  interesting  to  say  about  his  doings. 
Nevertheless,  though  outwardly  indifferent,  he  was  in 
reality  watching  events  with  the  utmost  interest  and 
anxiety. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  he  heard  of  the  murder  of 
Paul  I  and  of  the  accession  of  Alexander,  and  began 
to  wonder  what  the  attitude  of  the  new  Czar  would 
be  towards  him.  "  His  role  towards  me  will  be 
embarrassing,"  he  remarked  in  a  letter  to  the  Comte 
d'Artois  ;  and  he  went  on  to  argue  with  his  usual 
sagacity  that  as  Paul  I,  even  while  treating  him  with 
the  utmost  harshness,  had  never  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge his  title  as  King  of  France,  it  would  be  difficult 
for  his  successor  to  do  less,  and  that  this  recogni- 
tion of  the  rightfulness  of  his  claim  to  occupy  the 
throne  of  France  would  not  be  pleasing  to  the  First 
Consul. 

In  spite  of  his  hopes,  Louis  XVIII  ended  by  spend- 
ing three  melancholy  years  in  Warsaw,  years  when  he 
was  completely  forgotten  in  France,  while  evil  tidings 
poured  in  upon  him  in  all  directions. 

The  King's  first  and  most  pressing — as  well  as 
humiliating — anxiety  was  caused  by  his  want  of  money. 
The  Czar's  subsidy  had  ceased.  Louis  XVIII  had  been 
obliged  to  contract  a  loan  at  Riga  to  pay  the  expenses 


172  Louis  XVIII 

of  his  journey  from  Russia,  and  at  Warsaw  he  was 
reduced  to  such  straits  that  he  was  not  even  able  to 
succour  his  impoverished  followers.  However,  the 
Comte  d'Artois  came  to  his  aid,  and  managed  by  loans 
to  raise  a  sum  of  £3,000,  which  he  at  once  despatched 
to  relieve  his  brother's  necessities.  The  British  Govern- 
ment sent  Louis  XVIII  £5,000,  and  promised  an 
annual  pension  of  £6,000,  which,  though  not  as  much 
as  he  required,  was  generous,  for  England  already 
supported  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  Due  de  Bourbon, 
and  the  Orleans  Princes,  as  well  as  the  Due  de  Conde, 
who  since  the  disbandment  of  his  little  army  had  taken 
refuge  there. 

Eventually  Alexander  decided  to  continue  the 
pension  allowed  the  King  by  Paul  I,  and  generously 
repaid  it  from  the  time  of  the  departure  of  the  Bour- 
bons from  Mittau  ;  so,  though  the  other  nations  refused 
help,  Louis  XVIII  was  able  to  live  without  the  wearing 
and  humiliating  anxiety  about  money  affairs  which  had 
for  a  time  assailed  him.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  that 
when  application  was  made  by  Alexander  to  Napoleon 
for  pecuniary  aid  for  the  family  he  had  supplanted,  he 
refused  to  grant  it  unless  the  Bourbons  would  all 
consent  to  live  together  at  some  place  distant  from 
France.  The  First  Consul  made  no  secret  of  the 
fact  that  he  hoped  that  this  would  lower  them  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe,  and  Alexander  therefore  did  not 
consider  it  expedient  to  enlighten  the  King  as  to  his 
benevolent  intentions. 

A  grave  anxiety  to  the  King  at  this  time  was  the 
failing  health  of  the  unfortunate  d'Avaray,  whose  con- 
stitution, always  delicate,  had  been  undermined  by 
trouble,  anxiety,  and  the  rigour  of  the  Russian  climate. 
He  thought  his  condition  hopeless,  and  the  Abb6  Edge- 


Monetary   Difficulties   and  Anxieties       173 

worth,  in  whom  he  confided,  says  that  he  did  not  seem 
to  be  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  death,  but  that  his  one 
preoccupation  was  the  idea  of  the  solitude  in  which  he 
would  leave  the  master  to  whom  he  had  consecrated 
his  life  ;  and  that  with  courageous  self-abnegation,  he 
was  most  anxious  to  find  some  one  who  would 
eventually  become  a  worthy  successor  to  him.  The 
King  was  terribly  anxious  about  his  illness,  and  men- 
tions him  continually  in  his  letters  to  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  concern  at  the  invalid  condition  of  his 
faithful  friend  and  companion,  his  "  other  self,"  being 
now  added  to  his  other  troubles.  However,  for  a  time 
the  catastrophe  of  a  final  separation  seemed  likely  to  be 
averted,  for  d'Avaray  went  to  Italy,  and  came  back  in 
better  health,  though  he  was  now  obliged  to  winter 
there  every  year,  and  his  departure  left  the  King  in  a 
condition  of  miserable  loneliness. 

On  d'Avaray 's  return  from  his  second  winter  in 
the  South,  he  brought  with  him  the  man  destined 
to  succeed  him  in  the  King's  confidence,  whose 
position  as  Royal  favourite  would  in  the  early  days  of 
the  French  Restoration  excite  bitter  anger  throughout 
France.  The  Comte  de  Blacas  had  already  been  pre- 
sented to  the  King  by  d'Avaray  at  Verona,  and  was 
now  to  become  one  of  his  most  faithful  servants.  In 
1 802  he  was  rather  over  thirty  years  of  age,  and, 
unlike  d'Avaray,  was  tall  and  good-looking.  His 
devotion  to  the  King  was  great,  and  he  appears,  like 
d'Avaray,  to  have  been  absolutely  disinterested  ;  while, 
unlike  d'Avaray,  he  possessed  considerable  intellectual 
capacity,  though  the  coldness  and  arrogance  of  his 
manners,  even  to  those  he  should  have  conciliated, 
were,  in  the  future,  to  enlist  the  whole  Court  against 
him.     The  King  at  once  despatched  him  as  envoy  to 


i74  Louis  XVIII 

St.  Petersburg,  where  he  showed  much  cleverness,  and 
his  services  were  extremely  valuable. 

From  a  political  point  of  view,  the  matter  which 
occupied  the  King's  mind  most  anxiously  at  this  time 
was  the  question  of  the  Concordat,  or  agreement 
signed  between  Pius  VII  and  France,  and  of  the 
exhortation  which  the  Pope  addressed  a  little  later  to 
the  Bishops,  enjoining  those  who  had  left  the  country 
to  resign  their  posts  in  favour  of  the  Bishops  appointed 
to  the  new  Sees.  The  King  was  naturally  anxious 
that  the  Bishops  should  resist  this  order  ;  and  many 
were  the  letters  he  wrote  on  the  subject.  In  the 
end  he  was,  as  usual,  defeated  ;  as  the  greater  number 
of  the  Bishops  obeyed  the  Pope's  ordinance,  so  that, 
by  Napoleon's  astute  policy,  France  again  became  an 
obedient  daughter  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  help 
which,  in  contradistinction  to  the  irreligion  of  Revo- 
lutionary France,  the  alliance  between  the  Church  and 
the  Bourbons  gave  to  the  cause  of  the  Monarchy, 
was  as  illusory  as  all  the  other  supports  on  which 
Louis  XVIII's  hopes  depended. 

Many  things  concurred  to  worry  the  King  at  this 
time  ;  for  while  the  Comte  d'Artois  enjoyed  himself 
in  the  society  of  Madame  de  Polastron,  and  left  the 
Comtesse  d'Artois,  who  was  tinier,  and  even  uglier  and 
more  extraordinary  than  her  elder  sister,  to  wander 
about  Europe,  with  no  one  apparently  to  care  what 
became  of  her  except  the  King  ;  he  had  taken  upon 
himself  the  duties  of  father  to  his  nephews,  and  the 
Due  de  Berry  caused  him  considerable  anxiety. 

Unlike  his  father  and  uncles,  the  Due  de  Berry  was 
essentially  warlike,  and  had  spent  most  of  his  time 
with  Conde's  army,  where  he  had  distinguished  himself 
as  a   brave  soldier.     On  the   other  hand,  he   was  ex- 


The   Due   de   Berry  175 

tremely  dissipated,  was  cursed  with  an  utter  want  of 
self-control,  and  his  manners  were  often  rude  even  to 
boorishness.  Short  in  stature,  low  in  forehead,  he 
would  have  been  ugly  had  it  not  been  for  the  irresistible 
smile  which  from  time  to  time  lit  up  his  face,  and 
transformed  its  uncomeliness  into  something  approach- 
ing beauty.  Having  successfully  married  the  Due 
d'Angouleme,  Louis  XVTII  was  anxious  to  do  as 
much  by  his  younger  nephew,  though  the  task  of 
finding  a  suitable  alliance  was  difficult,  as  Bourbon 
pride  was  unbending,  and  the  Prince  in  his  present 
condition  could  not  be  considered  a  very  eligible 
parti. 

However,  to  the  King's  delight,  there  had  seemed  to 
be  some  chance  of  marrying  the  Due  de  Berry  to  one 
of  the  two  Neapolitan  Princesses  ;  and  for  some  time 
negotiations  for  this  alliance  seemed  to  be  progressing 
satisfactorily.  The  matter  dragged  on  slowly,  and  the 
Due  de  Berry,  who  was  miserably  poor  and  always  in 
want  of  money,  had  been  obliged  to  return  to  Conde's 
army.  Here  his  poverty  was  extremely  galling  to 
him,  and  he  was  very  jealous  of  the  Due  d'Enghien, 
who,  owing  to  the  Russian  subsidies,  was  comparatively 
well  off,  and,  according  to  the  Due  de  Berry,  was 
unduly  favoured  by  his  grandfather,  the  Due  de  Conde, 
and  was  always  given  the  best  opportunities  for  dis- 
tinguishing himself.  Soon,  however,  Conde's  army 
was  disbanded,  and  at  Warsaw  the  King  heard  that, 
partly  influenced  by  reports  about  the  dissipated 
character  of  the  young  Prince,  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Naples  refused  to  sanction  his  marriage  with  their 
daughter. 

The  Due  de  Berry  was  in  a  most  unfortunate 
position,    for   idleness    at    Holyrood   with    the   Comte 


176  Louis  XVIII 

d'Artois  seemed  the  only  course  open  to  him  ;  and 
even  before  the  matter  of  the  marriage  had  been  finally 
settled,  he  wrote  in  utter  misery  to  the  Uncle  who  had 
always  acted  a  father's  part  towards  him,  to  complain 
that  "  he  was  not  intended  for  happiness." 

Louis  XVIII  always  shows  at  his  best  when  dealing 
with  his  nephews,  being  tactful,  patient,  and  both  able 
and  willing  to  enter  into  their  peculiar  difficulties,  and 
not  to  expect  from  them  the  same  high  standard  of 
serenity  and  courage  he  exhibited  himself.  He  now 
tried  to  persuade  the  Comtesse  d'Artois  to  make  her 
son  an  allowance,  and  reminded  his  nephew  that  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  he  could  hardly  say  that  his  fate 
was  irrevocably  fixed,  while  he  tried  to  inculcate 
the  philosophical  reflection  that  it  is  impossible 
to  judge  rightly  of  the  happiness  or  unhappiness 
of  any  life  by  its  outward  circumstances,  for  "  fine 
weather  has  its  storms,  bad  weather  has  its  sunshine, 
the  most  happy  men  have  troubles,  the  most  miserable 
enjoyments." 

The  King  was  soon  in  a  position  to  put  his  philosophy 
to  practical  account,  for  he  was  threatened  with  a  danger 
which  upset  even  his  equanimity.  When  he  spoke 
to  the  Due  and  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  with  much 
pleasure  of  the  possible  move  from  Warsaw  to  Naples 
about  which  he  had  been  for  some  time  in  negotiation, 
they  told  him  with  the  utmost  grief  that  the  Comte 
d'Artois  did  not  consider  Italy  a  safe  country,  and  that 
if  he  were  to  take  up  his  abode  there,  they  had  received 
orders  not  to  accompany  him,  but  to  go  to  Holyrood. 
This  news  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  the  unfortunate 
King,  who  looked  on  his  nephew  and  niece  as  his  own 
children,  and  he  wrote  a  pathetic  letter  to  his  brother, 
imploring  that  they  should  not  be  separated  from  him. 


His  Relations  with  Napoleon  177 

He  pointed  out,  though  with  circumlocution  necessary 
to  the  circumstances,  that  the  presence  and  position  of 
Madame  de  Polastron  at  Holyrood  made  it  hardly  a 
suitable  home  for  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  and 
proposed  that,  instead  of  the  Due  and  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme  moving  to  Scotland,  the  Comte  d'Artois 
should  come  to  Warsaw  to  see  them. 

"  Finally,  allow  me  a  trivial  comparison,"  he  wrote. 
"  Have  you  ever  seen  without  a  feeling  of  pity  a  hen 
who  has  brought  up  some  ducklings  ?  The  difference 
is  that  the  hen  has  no  memory,  and  I  have  only  too 
much." 

However,  in  the  disturbed  state  of  Europe,  and  the 
ever-growing  fear  of  the  all-powerful  ruler  of  France, 
this  danger  was  averted  ;  for  it  became  as  impossible 
for  Louis  XVIII  to  move  to  Italy,  as  it  was  for  the 
Comte  d'Artois  to  leave  England. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1803,  m  preparation 
for  assuming  the  title  of  Emperor,  Bonaparte  requested 
Frederick  William  to  obtain  from  Louis  XVIII  the 
renunciation  of  his  rights  to  the  throne  of  France,  and 
in  return  for  this  concession  the  insatiable  conqueror 
promised  the  King  what  he  termed  a  "  brilliant  destiny." 

Louis  XVIII's  answer  to  Napoleon's  proposition  ran 
as  follows  : 

"  I  do  not  associate  Bonaparte  with  some  of  those 
who  preceded  him.  I  admire  his  courage,  his  military 
talents.  I  am  grateful  to  him  for  several  acts  of  his 
Administration  ;  for  the  good  done  to  my  people  will 
always  be  dear  to  me.  But  he  deceives  himself  if  he 
thinks  he  will  make  me  barter  my  rights.  Far  from 
that,  he  would  have  established  them  himself  by  the 
step  he  is  now  taking,  if  it  had  been  possible  for  them 
to  be  doubtful. 

12 


178  Louis  XVIII 

"  I  do  not  know  God's  designs  for  my  race  and  for 
me,  but  I  know  the  duties  He  has  imposed  on  me  by 
the  rank  in  which  it  has  pleased  Him  that  I  should  be 
born.  As  a  Christian,  I  shall  perform  these  duties  till 
my  last  breath.  As  a  son  of  Saint  Louis,  I  shall  know, 
as  he  did,  how  to  make  myself  respected,  even  in 
irons.  As  a  successor  to  Francis  Ist,  I  intend  at  least 
to  be  able  to  say  with  him,  '  We  have  lost  everything, 
except  honour.'  " 

Below  these  words  the  Due  d'Angouleme  had 
written  :  "  With  the  permission  of  the  King,  my 
Uncle,  I  adhere  with  my  heart  and  soul  to  what  is 
contained  in  this  Declaration." 

The  King  of  Prussia  was  much  annoyed  at  the  tone 
of  Louis  XVIII's  manifesto.  He  called  it  aggressive  ; 
and  he  begged  the  King  to  tone  it  down.  His  envoy 
advised  Louis  XVIII  not  to  irritate  the  First  Consul, 
and  spoke  of  possible  dangers. 

"  Dangers  !  What  dangers  ? '  answered  the  King 
proudly  ;  "  that  of  being  hunted  from  Prussia  ?  If 
your  Sovereign,  Sir,  finds  himself  obliged  to  de- 
prive me  of  this  refuge,  I  shall  pity  him,  and  I 
shall  go." 

"  It  is  not  that  which  is  to  be  feared,"  returned  the 
Prussian  functionary  ;  "  but  Bonaparte  may  insist  that 
Prussia  and  Spain  shall  cease  the  help " 

The  King  did  not  allow  him  to  finish.  "  I  do  not 
fear  poverty,"  he  said.  "  If  it  were  necessary,  I  would 
eat  black  bread  with  my  children  and  servants.  But 
I  shall  never  be  reduced  to  that.  I  possess  another 
resource,  of  which  I  do  not  consider  it  right  to  make 
use  as  long  as  I  have  powerful  friends — that  is,  to 
make  my  condition  known  in  France,  and  to  hold  out 
my  hand,  not  to  the  Government  of  the  usurper,  but 


Napoleon   becomes   Emperor  179 

to  my  faithful  subjects  ;  and,  believe  me,  I  shall  soon 
be  richer  than  I  now  am." 

The  whole  Bourbon  Family,  including  the  Orleans 
branch,  sent  in  their  adhesion  to  the  King's  Declara- 
tion ;  and  a  year  later,  on  March  21,  1804,  Europe 
was  roused  to  indignation  by  the  news  that,  by 
Napoleon's  orders,  Conde's  grandson,  the  young  Due 
d'Enghien,  had  been  shot  after  a  mock  trial,  on  the 
accusation  of  having  been  implicated  in  a  plot,  set  on 
foot  by  General  Pichegru  and  by  Georges  Cadoudal, 
one  of  the  Chouans,  with  the  object  of  assassinating 
Bonaparte. 

On  May  18,  1804,  the  great  step  was  taken,  and 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  assumed  the  title  of  Emperor  of 
the  French.  Louis  XVIII  wrote  a  circular  letter  to 
all  the  Courts  of  Europe  protesting  against  this  illegal 
act,  and  was  now  doubly  anxious,  not  only  to  see  the 
Comte  d'Artois,  from  whom  he  had  been  parted 
for  over  ten  years,  but  also  to  arrange  for  a  reunion 
of  the  whole  Bourbon  Family,  including  the  Orleans 
Princes.  It  was  difficult  to  decide  on  a  place  for  this 
meeting,  which  was  to  result  in  a  solemn  protestation 
against  Napoleon's  usurpation  of  the  throne  of  France. 
Sweden  seemed,  on  the  whole,  the  most  propitious 
locality  ;  for  that  country  had  been  uniformly  friendly 
to  the  Bourbons. 

On  application  being  made  to  Gustavus  IV,  he 
proved  himself  quite  willing  to  show  hospitality  to 
the  exiled  family  ;  but  many  difficulties  stood  in  the 
way.  England  was  adverse  to  the  idea  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  threatened  that  the  Princes  leaving  there  for 
the  Bourbon  reunion  would  most  probably  not  be 
allowed  to  return.  Alexander  I  also  objected  to  the 
scheme,    and    said    that   the   granting  of  a    refuge    to 


i8o  Louis  XVIII 

the  Comte  de    l'lsle  in  his  dominions,  had  been    de- 
pendent on  his  promise  to  live  peaceably  and  quietly. 

Louis  XVIII  was,  however,  quite  determined  to 
confer  with  the  brother  from  whom  he  had  been 
parted  for  so  long  ;  and,  defying  the  Czar,  he  left 
Warsaw  on  July  30,  1804.  This  was  later  than  he 
had  intended,  but  he  had  been  delayed  by  an  illness 
which  was  supposed  to  be  caused  by  poison.  The 
Queen  and  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  were  left  behind 
at  Warsaw,  and  the  King,  accompanied  by  the  Due 
d'Angouleme,  the  faithful  d'Avaray,  and  a  small  suite, 
made  his  way  to  Blankenfeld,  where  he  was  obliged  to 
wait  from  August  25th  till  September  12th  (1804) 
for  a  boat  to  take  him  across  to  Sweden. 

At  Blankenfeld  another  trouble  came  upon  him, 
for  d'Avaray's  health  was  in  so  precarious  a  condition 
that  the  King  was  obliged  to  insist  that  he  should  not 
accompany  the  party. 

At  last  it  was  possible  to  start ;  and  after  a  terrible 
crossing,  which  took  eleven  days,  the  travellers  arrived 
in  Sweden.  Even  then  the  King's  anxieties  were  not 
over,  for  the  English  Government,  in  their  fear  of 
Napoleon,  were  agitating  to  prevent  the  Comte  d'Artois 
from  coming  to  meet  his  brother  ;  while  Frederick 
William  of  Prussia  felt  obliged  to  assure  the  French 
Government  that  he  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Comte  de  l'lsle's  departure  from  Warsaw. 

However,  the  death  of  the  Comtesse  de  Polastron, 
which  had  left  the  Comte  d'Artois  in  the  utmost  despair, 
had  also  had  the  effect  of  making  him  cling  more 
closely  than  before  to  his  family  ;  and  he  managed  by 
energetic  efforts  to  evade  the  attempts  made  to  detain 
him  in  England,  and  arrived  at  Calmar  on  October  7th. 
The  brothers   had   gone  through  a  long  series  of  mis- 


Consultations   at   Calmar  181 

fortunes  since  they  had  last  met  ;  in  fact  the  marriage 
of  the  Due  d'Angouleme  and  his  cousin  seemed  the 
one  bright  spot  in  their  history.  They  had  much  to 
relate  to  each  other  ;  but  most  of  their  discussions 
circled  around  a  protestation  against  Napoleon's  action 
in  seizing  the  throne  of  France,  which  the  King  had 
drawn  up,  and  wished  to  despatch  to  all  parts  of 
Europe.  He  had  already  sent  one  to  the  Powers 
signed  by  himself  alone  ;  but  the  one  in  contemplation 
was  to  be  submitted  to  the  Princes  for  approval,  and 
was  then  to  be  signed  by  all.  There  was  much 
difficulty  about  this  Declaration,  as,  after  the  French 
Princes  had  at  last  been  persuaded  to  sanction  it, 
Alexander  I  objected  to  its  propagation  ;  and  when 
the  little  pamphlet  at  last  appeared,  it  had  no  circulation 
except  in  Germany.  Louis  XVIII's  people,  as  usual, 
refused  to  listen  to  him  !  However,  this  almost  un- 
noticed Declaration  is  remarkable  in  Louis  XVIII's 
history  as  marking  a  complete  change  in  his  policy. 
In  it  he  deserted  for  the  first  time  the  tenets  of  the 
Ancien  Regime,  and  promised  forgetfulness  of  past 
political  offences,  preservation  of  the  Imperial  grades 
and  titles,  and  of  the  rights  of  property,  and  main- 
tenance of  the  doctrine  of  liberty  and  equality. 

Other  anxious  consultations  at  Calmar  treated  of 
finding  a  new  refuge  for  the  King  ;  for  during  his 
stay  there,  he  received  a  letter  from  Prussia  stating 
that  after  the  interview  between  the  two  brothers,  it 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  neutrality  which  the 
King  of  Prussia  wished  to  observe,  for  the  Comte 
de  l'lsle  to  remain  any  longer  at  Warsaw.  Therefore, 
a  new  retreat  must  be  found,  and  the  Comte  d'Artois 
was  eager  in  advising  England.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever,   the    British    Ministers,    in    view    of   Napoleon's 


1 82  Louis  XVIII 

threatening  attitude  towards  their  country,  were  not 
at  all  anxious  to  offer  an  asylum  to  Louis  XVIII ; 
and  the  attempts  of  the  Due  d'Orleans  to  influ- 
ence the  Regent  in  this  direction  were  uniformly 
unsuccessful. 

Russia  seemed  the  only  likely  place  of  refuge  ;  but 
to  Louis  XVIII's  intense  disappointment,  Alexander  I 
wished  to  establish  his  guest  at  Kiew,  a  miserable  little 
town  near  the  Black  Sea.  Louis  XVIII  was  in  despair 
at  this  decision  :  "  If  I  am  sent  there,"  he  wrote  to 
his  brother,  "  every  good  Frenchman,  I  at  the  head 
of  them,  will  only  have  one  prayer  to  make,  which 
will  be  to  ask  God  to  deliver  my  soul  and  body  as 
quickly  as  possible  from  their  prison.  .  .  .  My  friend, 
if  you  can  do  no  better,  get  them  to  leave  me  at 
Mittau.      It  is  to  this  that   I   am   reduced." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  spring  of  1805,  tne  King 
received  permission  to  go  to  Mittau,  but  under  very 
changed  conditions  from  his  last  sojourn  there.  In 
the  year  1 800  he  had  been  received  as  King,  had 
been  surrounded  by  a  Royal  Guard,  and  greeted 
everywhere  with  Royal  honours ;  now  he  was  only 
allowed  to  enter  Russia  on  sufferance  as  Comte 
de  l'lsle — a  condition  he  found  intensely  humiliating — 
and  when  he  arrived  with  the  Queen,  the  Due  and 
Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  and  his  small  party  of  faithful 
adherents,  he  had  hardly  any  means  of  receiving  news 
from  the  outside  world,  and  was  besides  in  a  condition 
of  the  most  paralysing  poverty. 

Almost    the    only  tidings  which    reached  him   from 

'  the    outside    world,    besides    the    death    of    the    poor 

Comtesse  d'Artois,  who  was  apparently   missed  by  no 

one,   were    accounts   of  Napoleon's   brilliant   victories, 

and  of  his  successive  entries  into  Vienna  and  Berlin  ; 


Second   Stay   at   Mittau  183 

while  the  one  important  break  in  this  weary  time 
seems  to  have  been  a  visit  from  the  Czar  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1807.  The  King  then  begged 
Alexander  for  the  same  recognition  of  his  kingly  rank 
that  had  been  accorded  to  him  by  Paul  I,  and  for 
permission  to  march  with  the  armies  of  the  Coalition. 
Both  these  requests  were  refused  ;  and  the  Czar  con- 
sidered the  King  "  the  most  empty  and  insignificant 
man  in  Europe,"  and  was  certain  that  he  would  never 
ascend  the  throne  of  France.  He  therefore  troubled 
no  more  about  him,  and  the  unfortunate  Louis  XVIII 
continued  to  chafe  in  his  lonely  retreat.  His  joy 
was  all  the  greater  when  he  received  a  letter  from 
Gustavus  IV  of  Sweden,  summoning  him  to  a  Con- 
ference about  assembling  an  army  of  Emigres,  to  assist 
the  King  of  Sweden  in  wresting  his  German  pos- 
sessions from  Napoleon. 

However,  before  Louis  XVIII  had  time  to  start  for 
Sweden,  which  he  hoped  might  be  merely  a  temporary 
stopping-place  on  the  way  to  England,  Napoleon  won 
the  battle  of  Friedland  ;  and  at  Tilsit  peace  was 
declared  between  France,  Russia,  and  Austria.  There- 
fore Gustavus  IV  was  left  in  desperate  plight,  and  the 
Czar,  who  had  hitherto  approved  of  Louis  XVIII's 
proposed  journey,  now  felt  it  necessary  to  announce 
to  Napoleon's  Charge  d'affaires  in  St.  Petersburg,  that 
he  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Comte  de  l'lsle's 
departure  to  Sweden. 

Louis  XVIII  was  unfortunate  in  his  crossings.  He 
started  from  Libau  in  the  Swedish  frigate  La  Troja, 
on  September  3rd,  1 807  ;  the  tempest  in  the  Baltic 
was  so  violent  that  on  the  15th  the  boat  had  not 
arrived,  and  the  captain  declared  that  in  the  twenty- 
five  years  during  which   he    had   navigated  the  Baltic, 


i84  Louis  XVIII 

he  had  never  before  been  out  in  such  a  storm.  The 
Queen  and  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  had  fortunately 
remained  at  Mittau  ;  but  the  sufferings  of  d'Avaray 
and  of  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  who  were  both  bad 
sailors,  were  intense. 

When  the  travellers  arrived  in  Sweden,  their  recep- 
tion was  discouraging  ;  for  Gustavus  was  just  recovering 
from  a  severe  illness,  and  was  physically  weak,  and 
discouraged  by  his  defeats.  Though  determined  to 
treat  the  King  with  the  greatest  honour,  he  was  most 
anxious  that  his  stay  in  Sweden  should  be  short,  as 
he  feared  to  bring  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the 
all-powerful  Napoleon.  He  therefore  did  his  best  to 
strengthen  the  King  in  his  resolve  to  find  a  domicile 
in  England ;  and  it  was  settled  that  Louis  XVIII 
should  write  to  George  III  announcing  his  impending 
arrival  on  his  shores,  and  should,  without  waiting  for 
an  answer  from  his  Majesty's  Ministers,  follow  quickly 
in  the  wake  of  his  letter. 

He  started  on  this  journey  surrounded  with  as  much 
ceremonious  homage  as  though  he  were  really  wearing 
the  crown  of  France  ;  but  unfortunately  his  letter 
arrived  later  than  himself  off  Yarmouth,  and  his  reception 
there  was  not  encouraging.  From  certain  vague  in- 
dications, the  English  Government  had  expected  that 
sooner  or  later  the  French  King  would  appear  off 
their  shores,  and  had  prepared  the  Palace  of  Holyrood 
for  his  reception.  Therefore,  when  Louis  XVIII 
prepared  to  land  at  Yarmouth,  the  Commander  of 
the  Port  would  not  permit  this,  but  requested  him 
to  disembark  at  Leith  in  Scotland.  This  the  King 
refused  to  do  ;  and  thinking  there  must  be  some 
misunderstanding,  he  remained  off  Yarmouth,  waiting 
for  further  news. 


Off  the   Shores   of   England  185 

Meanwhile  his  letter  had  been  received  in  London, 
and  had  caused  a  great  sensation  ;  for  instead  of 
merely  asking  for  a  refuge,  the  King  announced  that 
he  had  come  "to  discuss  with  George  III  measures 
for  going  in  person  to  deliver  his  subjects  from 
oppression,  and  for  seizing  his  father's  heritage  from 
the  hands  of  the  usurper,  and  restoring  peace  to 
Europe."  He  went  on  to  say  that  he  hoped  to  be 
a  powerful  ally  to  the  King  of  England,  that  the 
mask  must  be  torn  from  Napoleon,  and  truth  must 
be  heard.  "  Nevertheless,"  he  continues,  "  your 
Majesty  alone  will  not  make  it  audible  ;  sacred  as  is 
your  word,  it  requires  a  guarantor  ;  can  you  find  a  better 
than  the  brother  and  heritor  of  Louis  XVI  crying  : 
'  Frenchmen,  I  attest  to  you  that  George  Ill's  inten- 
tions are  as  disinterested  as  his  personal  character  is 
magnanimous  !  '  The  King  then  enlarged  on  the 
fact  that  though  in  "  the  alliance  between  him  and 
George  III  the  principal  advantages  would  be  on 
his  side,  all  Europe  would  profit  by  bringing  to  an  end 
the  bloody  calamities  caused  by  the  Corsican  usurper." 

As  England  was  not  at  all  inclined  to  come  forward 
to  champion  the  Bourbon  cause,  this  letter  was 
received  with  consternation,  especially  as  it  appeared 
that  a  house  had  already  been  taken  for  Louis  XVIII 
in  London.  Therefore  George  III  in  his  answer, 
while  deploring  the  fact  that  instead  of  merely  seeking 
a  refuge  in  England,  the  French  King  had  come  there 
with  the  intention  of  entering  into  political  negotia- 
tions, begged  him  at  once  to  make  his  way  to 
Edinburgh,  where  he  would  find  Holyrood  prepared 
for  him. 

To  this  Louis  XVIII  answered  that  he  would  prefer 
a  return  to   Mittau  to  being  forced   to  seek  refuge  in 


1 86  Louis  XVIII 

Holyrood  ;  and  two  days  passed  in  the  interchange 
of  letters,  and  in  heated  discussions,  which  were  at 
last  ended  by  the  intervention  of  the  Due  d'Orleans, 
who,  after  inducing  Louis  XVIII  to  promise  that  he 
would  not  attempt  to  go  to  London,  persuaded  the 
Prince  of  Wales  to  obtain  permission  from  the  Ministers 
for  him  to  land  at  Yarmouth.  The  Marquis  of  Buck- 
ingham now  came  forward,  and  offered  the  King 
hospitality  at  Gosfield,  his  house  in  Essex.  The 
Government  became  rather  tardily  doubtful  whether 
they  were  treating  his  French  Majesty  with  the  honour 
due  to  him;  and  Canning  wrote  a  diplomatic  letter  to 
Bagot,  telling  him  to  meet  Louis  XVIII  at  Yarmouth  ; 
and  if  he  did  not  arrive  in  time  to  do  this,  to  invent 
picturesque  and  flattering  excuses  for  his  tardiness. 
Writing  from  Hounslow  on  November  ist,  1807, 
Canning  says  :  "  I  have  thought  myself  into  a  complete 
conviction  that  we  have  not  done  altogether  right  in 
respect  to  Louis  XVIII.  If  we  could  have  obliged 
him  to  go  to  Edinburgh,  well — but  having  once  con- 
sented to  his  landing,  we  ought  not  to  let  him  land 
like  a  Scrub,  and  leave  him  without  protection  or 
attention."  ! 

However,  Louis  XVIII  was  quite  pleased  with  the 
reception  accorded  to  him,  as  he  was  greeted  on  his 
arrival  on  British  shores  by  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the 
Due  d'Angouleme,  and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  and 
was  surrounded  at  once  by  a  crowd  of  people,  who 
looked  at  him  with  real  interest,  and  said,  "  It  is  the 
King  of  France,  it  is  Louis  XVIII,  it  is  Louis  XVI's 
brother  !  "  He  complained,  however,  of  the  want 
of  ordinary  facilities  for  travelling,  and  said  that 
he    could  get   no   post-horses   to   convey   him   on  the 

1  Bagot,  Canning  and  his  Friends,  vol.  i.  p.  250. 


Journey   through   England  187 

route  to  Gosfield.  He  met  with  sundry  admirers 
on  the  way,  and  tried  to  talk  English  to  them,  and 
he  was  so  much  struck  by  the  beauty  of  the  English 
women  that  at  Colchester,  where  they  formed  a  circle 
round  him,  he  could  not  eat  his  lunch  for  looking 
at  them.  One  lady  held  a  little  boy  of  five  or  six 
by  the  hand,  and  the  child  said,  "  Vive  le  Roi  !  "  "I 
shook  heartily  hand  with  him,"  says  the  King  ;  and  he 
was  much  annoyed  that  he  could  not  talk  to  the  pretty 
ladies.  "  What  opinion,"  thought  he,  "  will  these 
ladies  have  of  French  gallantry  ?  '  This  idea  gave 
him  courage,  and  he  addressed  a  remark  generally, 
"  If  anyone  of  these  ladies  could  understand  French  ?" 
"  Then,"  he  says,  "  I  was  interrupted  by  a  general 
chorus,  which  pointed  out  one  (very  pretty,  by  the 
by).  She  expressed  herself  in  very  good  French,  and 
with  the  modest  grace  peculiar  to  English  women."  1 

The  stop  at  Colchester  was  a  great  success,  and,  as 
the  King  left,  the  crowd  "  cheered  us  with  three 
hurrahs  !  " 

Louis  XVIIFs  relations  with  the  English  Govern- 
ment were  not  as  happy  as  those  he  enjoyed  with  the 
public. 

In  vain  he  tried  to  induce  the  King's  Ministers  to 
allow  him  to  take  up  his  abode  in  London,  or  any- 
where in  its  vicinity,  or  even  to  make  a  short  sojourn 
there.  The  refusal  was  stern  ;  and  when,  in  defiance 
of  the  rule  which  forbade  him  to  approach  London 
within  fifteen  miles,  he  went,  without  asking  per- 
mission, to  pay  the  Prince  de  Conde  a  visit  at  Wan- 
stead  House,  the  rebuke  he  received  was  humiliating, 
and  in  it  for  the  first  time  since  his  arrival  in  England, 
he  was  referred  to  as  the  Comte  de  l'lsle. 

1  Daudet,  Hisloire  de  immigration,  vol.  iii  p.  436. 


1 88  Louis  XVIII 

It  was  evident  that  if  he  wished  to  be  accorded  Royal 
dignities  in  England  he  must  live  quietly  at  a  distance 
from  the  capital,  and  must  not  meddle  with  politics. 

However,  while  in  his  life  at  Gosfield,  and  afterwards 
at  Hartwell,  he  was  denied  participation  in  the  politics 
of  the  great  world,  the  petty  scheming  of  the  little 
circle  of  Emigres  in  which  he  found  himself,  gave  him 
plenty  of  occupation  and  many  worries. 

Even  if  the  Comte  d'Artois  welcomed  Louis  XVIII's 
appearance  on  the  scene,  his  followers  certainly  objected 
strongly  to  the  fact  that  their  dignity  was  diminished, 
by  the  chief  authority  being  shifted  from  their  master 
to  his  brother.  They  vented  their  jealous  indignation 
chiefly  on  d'Avaray,  who  found  his  position  most 
miserable,  being  accused  by  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
of  arranging  the  journey  to  England  for  his  own 
ends,  while  the  Comte  d'Artois  informed  him  that  he 
managed  affairs  badly,  and  he  was  the  mark  of  the 
Emigres'  constant  calumny.  He  now  lived  in  a  little 
house  in  Chelsea,  whence  he  still  tried  to  be  useful 
to  his  Master,  but  he  was  nearly  worn  out  by  bad 
health,  worry,  and  the  hardships  he  had  endured,  and 
in  1810  the  doctors  ordered  him  to  go  to  Madeira. 
He  obeyed  their  orders  with  the  utmost  reluctance, 
hating  to  be  parted  from  the  King  ;  and  his  only  con- 
solation was  the  fact  that  he  left  him  in  the  charge  of 
the  Comte  de  Blacas. 

Meanwhile,  in  1809,  Louis  XVIII  had  moved  to 
Hartwell,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  he  lived  in  a 
circumscribed  circle,  paying  occasional  visits  to  the 
people  in  the  neighbourhood,  receiving  all  the  news 
he  could  from  France,  but  otherwise,  if  we  except  the 
etiquette  always  observed  around  him,  leading  the 
life  of  an  ordinary  gentleman  of  literary  tastes.     Here 


The   Queen's   Death  189 

Gustavus  IV,  who  after  a  military  revolution  had 
abdicated  in  favour  of  his  uncle,  came  to  pay  the 
King  a  three  months'  visit,  and  here  on  November  12th, 
1 8 10,  the  exiled  Queen  of  France  breathed  her  last. 
She  had  not  been  a  pleasant  companion  to  the  King, 
and  at  the  last  she  seemed  to  realise  this,  for  she  called 
him  to  her  bedside  to  thank  him  in  the  most  touching 
terms  for  the  attentions  he  had  shown  her,  and  to 
beg  him  to  forgive  her  for  the  pain  she  had  caused 
him,  and  to  believe  "  that  her  heart  had  counted  for 
nothing  in  what  she  might  have  done  to  afflict  him." 

The  King  felt  her  loss  very  deeply.  In  a  confidential 
letter  written  to  d'Avaray  at  Madeira,  he  says  :  "  I 
confess  I  did  not  realise  I  loved  the  Queen  so  much.  I 
felt  one  thing  very  much — that  the  days  when  her  health 
(how  unjust  it  was  of  me  to  think  her  an  imaginary 
invalid)'acted  on  her  temper,  I  was  sad  all  day  ;  and 
that,  on  the  contrary,  when  she  was  better,  and  was 
herself,  then  I  was  gay  and  in  high  spirits,  but  I  did 
not  try  to  find  the  reason  for  either  feeling."  ' 

Some  months  later,  when  spring  had  decked  the 
world  with  beauty,  he  writes  again  to  d'Avaray  : 
"  When  I  breathe  this  pure  air  I  say  to  myself,  It 
would  have  done  her  so  much  good  1  J  have  at  this 
moment  a  white  camellia  under  my  eyes,  which  has 
never  been  so  beautiful  as  this  year.  I  remember  that 
I  bought  it  for  her  birthday  on  our  arrival  here.  I 
walk  in  the  garden  ;  I  see  my  rose-trees,  which  are 
budding  well.  To  whom  shall  I  offer  the  roses  ?  " 
Often  he  says  to  himself  mechanically,  "  I  must  tell 
her  this  "  ;  and  then  remembers  that  she  is  no  longer 
there  to  listen. 

One    of   the    King's    letters    to    his    friend    gives   a 

1  Lettres  d'Artwell,  December  2,  1810. 


190  Louis  XVIII 

peaceful  picture  of  him,  of  which  it  is  pleasant  to 
think  in  the  midst  of  the  petty  disagreements  and 
jealousies  which  made  up  the  life  of  most  of  the 
Emigres. 

He  says  :  "  The  lilacs  have  not  done  as  well  as  I 
had  hoped — many  have  suffered  ;  but  the  laburnums 
have  been  superb.  The  heliotrope  now  scent  the  whole 
garden,  there  are  a  good  number  of  roses,  and  the 
fruit-trees — in  the  full  wind,  be  it  understood — are 
so  full  of  fruit  that  this  morning  I  noticed  a  plum- 
tree  which  was  like  a  vine  at  its  best  period."  ' 

When  the  King  wrote  this  letter,  the  friend  to  whom 
it  was  addressed  had  left  this  world  for  ever.  D'Avaray 
had  taken  to  his  bed  on  Ascension  Day,  May  23rd,  1  81 1, 
and  knew  that  he  was  dying,  his  only  regret  being  that 
he  should  never  again  see  his  King.  On  the  day  of  his 
death  he  had  the  last  letter  he  had  received  from  the 
King  re-read  to  him.  It  expressed  a  hope  of  seeing 
him  soon  again.  "It  is  in  the  sky,  my  dear  Master," 
he  wrote,  "  that  this  meeting  will  take  place,  if  God  has 
pity  on  me." 

When  the  news  of  d'Avaray's  death  arrived  in 
England  the  King  had  a  bad  attack  of  gout,  and 
his  doctors  considered  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to 
inform  him  that  he  had  lost  the  faithful  companion  of 
his  wanderings.  When  he  was  told  of  the  catastrophe, 
he  was  for  some  time  quite  inconsolable.  Sorrow 
after  sorrow  had  been  heaped  on  him  during  the  long 
odyssey  on  which  we  have  accompanied  him,  but  the 
loss  of  the  man  who  was  "  his  other  self"  must  have 
been  the  bitterest  affliction,  the  most  irreparable 
calamity  of  all. 

1  Lettres  d'Artwell,  April  1,  181 1. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Napoleon  at  bay— Louis  XVIII's  liberal  Proclamation — Treaty  of 
Fontainebleau— Affairs  in  France — Talleyrand — Louis  XVIII  sum- 
moned to  reign  over  France— Is  kept  in  England  by  gout — Con- 
stitution drawn  up  by  Provisional  Government — Monsieur's  hesita- 
tion to  acknowledge  this — His  entry  into  Paris — The  mischief  he 
does — Louis  XVIII  leaves  Hartwell — Reception  in  London — 
Crossing— Amiens— Compiegne— Napoleon's  Marshals— Interviews 
with  Talleyrand,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  Alexander  I — The  Corps 
Legislatif,  the  Senate — Declaration  of  Saint-Ouen — Entry  into 
Paris — Madame — The  Old  Guard. 

DURING  the  latter  part  of  the  five  years  Louis 
XVIII  spent  at  Hartwell,  it  might  well  have 
seemed  to  ia  casual  observer,  that  his  overmastering 
desire  for  a  return  to  his  own  country  must  have  faded, 
till  it  gave  place  to  contentment  in  a  peaceful,  if  not  a 
happy  ending  to  his  days.  This  idea,  however,  would 
have  been  incorrect  ;  for  though  so  physically  worn 
out  and  aged  that,  with  tact  and  sagacity  unimpaired, 
he  was  unequal  to  taking  any  decided  initiative,  or  to 
coping  with  a  sudden  emergency,  his  longing  to  reign 
over  France  had  only  grown  stronger  with  years. 
Moreover,  the  irony  of  fate  had  decreed  that  his  ardent 
wish  should  in  the  end  be  fulfilled,  and  that  for  the  last 
nine  years  of  his  life,  with  failing  powers,  and  sur- 
rounded by  hostile  criticism,  he  should  be  placed  on  a 
pinnacle,  and  be  called  upon  to  battle  with  a  task  of 
almost  unparalleled  difficulty. 

While  Louis  XVIII  was  enjoying  his  garden,  weep- 

191 


1 92  Louis  XVIII 

ing  over  the  memory  of  a  wife  whose  death,  while 
causing  him  sincere  sorrow,  certainly  rendered  his 
existence  less  troubled,  and  mourning  the  irreparable 
loss  of  a  friend  whose  place  could  never  be  filled,  great 
events  were  taking  place  in  Europe.  Napoleon  was 
now  fighting  against  overwhelming  odds,  not  for  the 
mastery  of  the  world,  but  for  the  protection  of  France, 
and  for  his  own  political  existence. 

The  disastrous  Russian  campaign,  culminating  in  the 
awful  retreat  from  Moscow,  had  aroused  the  horror  of 
Europe,  and  the  English  papers  had  published  an 
appeal  from  Louis  XVIII  to  the  Czar,  on  behalf  of  the 
miserable  French  soldiers  :  "  What  difference  does  the 
question  of  the  flag  they  have  marched  under  make  to 
me  ?  They  are  unfortunate  ;  I  only  see  in  them  my 
children.  I  recommend  them  to  the  goodness  of  his 
Imperial  Majesty.  May  he  think  of  all  they  have 
suffered  !  May  he  deign  to  soften  the  hardship  of 
their  misfortunes  !  May  they  feel,  in  short,  that  their 
conqueror  is  their  Father's  friend.  His  Imperial 
Majesty  cannot  give  me  a  more  touching  proof  of  his 
feelings  towards  me  !  " 

In  spite  of  his  apparent  absorption  in  trifles,  and  his 
placidity — a  placidity  obligatory  as  long  as  he  remained 
in  England — Louis  XVIII  was  at  this  time  most  active 
in  the  work  of  sending  emissaries  to  the  Allies,  with 
the  object  of  persuading  them  to  declare  that  it  was  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Bourbon  cause  that  they  had  taken  up 
arms  against  Napoleon.  The  King's  efforts  were, 
however,  in  vain,  for  the  Great  Continental  Powers 
adhered  to  their  usual  policy,  and  refused  to  pledge 
themselves  to  anything — if  the  French  wanted  the 
Bourbons,  they  must  recall  them  on  their  own  initiative. 

However,  in  February  1813,  the  King  took  an  even 


Napoleon  at  Bay  193 

more  decided  step  in  the  right  direction  than  he  had 
done  in  1804,  as  he  published  a  manifesto,  in  which  he 
declared  that  he  only  hoped  to  gain  the  throne  of 
France  by  the  efforts  of  his  faithful  subjects,  that  he 
promised  to  maintain  the  existing  administrative  and 
judicial  bodies,  and  to  keep  the  present  functionaries  in 
their  employments,  that  he  would  endeavour  to  arbitrate 
fairly  about  national  properties,  would  abolish  con- 
scription, and  would  forget  the  errors  which  had  taken 
place  in  the  past.  In  fact,  he  practically  promised  to 
sanction  all  the  work  done  by  the  Revolution. 

Events  now  followed  each  other  in  quick  succession. 
On  March  31st,  18 14,  after  unsuccessful  negotiations 
between  Napoleon  and  the  Powers  at  Chatillon-sur- 
Seine,  the  allied  armies  made  their  entry  into  Paris,  and 
peace  was  declared  between  Europe  and  France.  News 
of  this  was  brought  to  the  London  Stock  Exchange, 
where  it  caused  great  excitement  and  delight.  Some  one 
at  once  wrote  two  lines  in  pencil  to  inform  Louis  XVIII 
of  the  happy  event,  and,  travelling  by  stage-coach,  the 
scrap  of  paper  reached  Hartwell  at  eight  the  same 
evening.  It  was  received  with  the  utmost  emotion, 
and  the  King  sat  up  till  after  midnight  in  the  vain 
hope  of  receiving  confirmation  of  the  glad  tidings. 

Next  day,  however,  while  he  was  at  Mass,  two 
carriages  decorated  with  white  flags,  filled  with  men 
wearing  white  scarves,  drove  up  the  avenue  to  Hartwell. 
These  were  the  deputies  from  loyal  Bordeaux,  the 
first  place  in  France  to  offer  allegiance  to  its  lawful 
Sovereign.  The  office  was  not  interrupted,  but  news 
of  their  arrival  circulated  through  the  Chapel,  and 
at  her  devotions  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  could 
see  through  the  window  the  postilions  and  horses 
decked  with  the  symbol  of  the  Bourbon   Monarchy  ; 

13 


i94  Louis  XVIII 

while  for  Louis  XVIII  the  latter  part  of  the  service 
may  well  have  consisted  in  fervent  thanks  to  God. 

On  April  2nd,  the  Senate  established  a  Provisional 
Government  with  Talleyrand  at  its  head,  and  declared 
that  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  having  repeatedly  violated 
the  right  and  liberties  of  the  people,  and  the  laws  of 
the  Constitution,  had  forfeited  the  throne  of  France  ; 
and  on  April  nth  the  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau  was 
signed  between  Napoleon  and  the  Allied  Powers.  By 
this  treaty  Napoleon  was  allowed  to  retain  the  title  of 
Emperor,  and  was  given  the  sovereignty  of  the  island 
of  Elba,  with  a  revenue  of  two  millions  of  francs. 

Before  these  events  had  taken  place,  the  excitement 
among  the  Emigres  had  found  vent  in  action,  and  in 
January  1814,  Monsieur  and  his  two  sons  had  em- 
barked, Monsieur  for  Holland,  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
for  St.  Jean-de-Luz,  and  the  Due  de  Berry  for  Jersey. 

Nothing  can  be  more  incorrect  than  the  statement 
that  the  Bourbons  were  restored  to  the  throne  by 
foreign  arms,  though  this  supposed  fact  has  often  been 
used  as  a  weapon  against  them  by  their  enemies.  The 
Powers  did  indeed  in  the  end  refuse  to  treat  with 
Napoleon,  and  insisted  that  he  should  be  deposed,  as 
they  considered  his  position  as  head  of  the  French 
nation  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace  of  Europe  ;  but 
they  had  for  the  most  part  no  particular  wish  to  see  the 
Bourbons  again  invested  with  the  crown  of  France. 
Monsieur  indeed  was  obliged  for  a  month  to  wander 
about  Holland,  nervously  avoiding  the  armies  of  the 
Allies,  and  not  being  allowed  to  enter  France  ;  while 
the  position  of  the  Due  d'Angouleme  was  even  more 
galling.  He  had,  in  the  name  of  Louis  XVIII,  taken 
possession  of  Bordeaux  and  of  the  province  surrounding 
it,  was  exhibiting  the  white  flag  everywhere,  and  had 


From  a  mezzotint,  after  the  picture  by  Scheffer. 

TALLEYRAND. 
P-  i94 J 


The  French  Throne  Vacant  195 

posted  notices  in  the  town  stating  that  the  Bourbon 
cause  was  supported  by  the  Allies.  For  this  he  was 
severely  reprimanded  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who 
told  the  Prince  that  he  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  an  undertaking  in  which  the  exact  truth  was  not 
observed  ;  while  he  followed  this  strong  censure  by  the 
announcement  that  if  the  Due  d'Angouleme  did  not  in 
the  course  of  twenty-four  hours  deny  the  statement, 
he  would  be  forced  to  make  a  public  retractation  of  it 
himself. 

However,  the  real  work  of  deciding  the  all-important 
question  was  going  on  at  Paris  in  Talleyrand's  house  in 
the  rue  Saint-Florentin,  where  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment was  established  on  the  entresol ;  Alexander  1  of 
Russia,  who  took  the  lead  among  the  assembled 
Monarchs,  occupied  the  first  floor  ;  and  on  the  second 
his  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the  Comte  de  Nessel- 
rode,  was  established  with  his  secretary.  The  house 
was  like  a  beehive,  incessantly  crowded,  incessantly  in 
a  state  of  agitation  ;  work  went  on  there  continually, 
eager  people  thronged  the  audience-chamber,  and  there 
was  never  any  quiet  anywhere,  or  any  difference  be- 
tween night  and  day.  "  It  was  a  curious  sight,"  says 
one  of  the  Provisional  Government,1  "  to  see  Monsieur 
de  Talleyrand  with  his  embarrassed  walk  trying  to  pass 
from  his  bedroom  to  his  library,  to  give  audience  to 
some  one  he  had  promised  to  see,  and  who  had  been 
waiting  for  hours.  It  was  necessary  to  pass  through 
the  drawing-room.  He  was  stopped  by  one,  seized  by 
another,  his  passage  barred  by  a  third,  till,  worn  out, 
he  would  return  whence  he  had  come,  despairing  of 
getting   to    the    unfortunate    person    who   was   waiting 


in  vain." 


'  Comte  Beugnot,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.   101. 


196  Louis  XVIII 

Talleyrand,  Prince  de  Benevent,  deputy  of  the  States- 
General,  excommunicated  priest,  supporter  and  Minister 
of  Napoleon,  and  latterly  his  bitter  enemy,  was  now  the 
arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  France  ;  and  it  was  in  the 
informal   conversations   he   held    with    the    Czar,   that 
the    Restoration    of    the    Bourbons    was    decided    on. 
During  his  exile,  Louis  XVIII  was  often  blamed  for 
his  illusions,   but  surely  even  he,  would  hardly  have 
looked  to  Talleyrand   as   a   possible  supporter  of  his 
cause.     However,  the  wildly  improbable  had  come  to 
pass,  as  it  often  did  in  France  in  those  strangely  dis- 
turbed  times  ;    and  Talleyrand  was    absolutely  deter- 
mined that  the  Bourbons  should  be  restored,  though 
he  was  equally  firm  in  his  resolution   that  they  must 
govern   constitutionally.     Alexander  was   not   enthusi- 
astic about  the  Legitimist  cause  ;    he  did  not,  as  we 
know,  admire  Louis  XVIII  ;  but  there  was  no  one  to 
substitute  for  him,  for  to  place  Napoleon's  son  on  the 
throne  with  his  mother  as  Regent,  would  infallibly  have 
meant  that  Napoleon's  influence  would  soon  have  be- 
come paramount  ;  while  to  Alexander's  timid  proposi- 
tion that   Napoleon's  General,  Bernadotte,  now  Crown 
Prince  of  Sweden,  should  take  his  master's  place,  Talley- 
rand answered  firmly  that  if  France  required  a  soldier, 
it  would  be  best  for  her  to  keep  to  Napoleon,  the  first 
soldier  in  the  world. 

The  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons  was  therefore  in 
reality  settled  by  the  few  Imperial  functionaries  who 
formed  the  Provisional  Government,  with  the  wily  and 
unscrupulous  Talleyrand  at  their  head  ;  while  the 
chiefs  of  the  Coalition  gave  an  almost  reluctant  assent 
to  the  necessity  of  the  triumph  of  the  Legitimist  cause, 
and  the  Royalists  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the 
matter. 


Monsieur  Summoned  to  Paris  197 

Therefore  the  irony  of  fate,  which  always  pursued 
Louis  XVIII,  had  decreed  that  the  many  spider's  webs 
industriously  spun  by  him  during  the  long  years  of 
exile  should  hinder  instead  of  help  his  cause  ;  for 
he  would  certainly  have  mounted  the  throne  with  a 
freer  hand  had  he  never  encouraged  the  Vendeans  to 
keep  up  a  civil  war  in  France,  or  sent  numberless 
agents  to  conduct  complicated  intrigues,  with  the 
object — as  expressed  in  the  sentimental  phraseology 
then  in  vogue — of  recalling  his  "  erring  children  to 
their  Father's  arms." 

Royalist  enthusiasm  certainly  existed  in  the  country, 
for  a  few  of  the  Municipal  Council  began  to  clamour 
for  the  Bourbons,  and  apparently  also  for  a  return 
to  the  Ancien  Regime.  This  Talleyrand  was  deter- 
mined to  avoid  at  all  hazards  ;  and  he  decided  that, 
while  the  recall  of  Louis  XVIII  to  the  throne  of  his 
fathers  was  now  the  only  possible  course,  a  Constitu- 
tion must  be  drawn  up  ;  and  to  this  the  King  must 
swear  allegiance  before  taking  possession  of  Royal 
power.  By  this  Constitution  the  King  was  granted 
the  Executive  power,  but  was  summoned  to  reign  not 
by  hereditary  right,  but  by  the  will  of  the  people, 
who  "  called  by  their  free  will  to  the  throne  Louis 
Stanislas  Xavier  de  France,  brother  to  the  last  King, 
and  after  him  the  other  members  of  the  House  of 
Bourbon  in  their  old  order." 

Meanwhile,  Monsieur  had  been  summoned  to  Paris 
by  the  Provisional  Government  ;  and  as  Louis  XVIII 
was  kept  at  Hartwell  by  an  attack  of  gout,  his  brother 
took  the  position  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  King- 
dom, and  on  April  12th,  18 14,  was  received  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm  in  Paris,  where  his  charm  of 
manner  won  all  hearts.     There  were  many  difficulties 


198  Louis  XVIII 

to  be  surmounted  before  his  arrival  in  the  capital,  and 
many  awkward  questions  to  be  decided.  For  instance, 
should  he  be  obliged  to  appear  in  Paris  with  the  tri- 
coloured  cockade  instead  of  the  white  one  which  he 
had  distributed  everywhere  on  his  journey  ;  should 
he  receive  his  office  of  Lieutenant-General  as  a  birth- 
right, or  should  it  be  delegated  to  him  by  the  Senate  ; 
above  all,  would  he  consent  in  his  brother's  name  to 
sign  the  Constitution  drawn  up  by  the  Senate,  which 
certainly  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Right  of 
Kings  ? 

On  the  day  of  his  entry  he  had  not  yet  done  this, 
and  though  the  people  manifested  the  utmost  joy  as 
he  rode  through  the  streets,  on  the  "  only  happy  day 
that  he  had  had  for  thirty  years,"  the  Senate  held  aloof 
till  he  should  sign  the  Constitutional  Act  presented 
to  him.  To  do  this  caused  Monsieur  the  utmost 
repugnance,  and  it  was  not  till  pressure  had  been  put 
upon  him  by  the  Czar  as  well  as  by  Talleyrand,  that 
he  consented  to  receive  the  Senate  ;  and  then — instead 
of  swearing  in  his  brother's  name  to  accept  the  Con- 
stitution— he  annoyed  Talleyrand  by  saying  "  that  he 
was  not  afraid  of  being  disclaimed  when  he  swore." 
However,  most  people  were  amply  satisfied  by  this 
expression  ;  and  Monsieur's  charm  of  manner,  his 
happiness  at  returning  to  his  country,  his  courtesy, 
and  kindly  consideration  to  those  with  whom  he  came 
into  contact,  aroused  the  utmost  enthusiasm,  and  con- 
trasted most  favourably  with  the  unceremonious 
manners  of  the  late  Emperor. 

The  Comte  d'Artois  was  radiantly  happy,  and  even 
the  signature  of  the  Constitutional  Act  only  clouded 
the  horizon  for  him  temporarily,  as  in  his  opinion  it 
would  soon  be  replaced  by   the  paternal  government 


Monsieur  in  Paris  199 

of  the  Ancien  Regime.  It  was  therefore  occasionally 
difficult  to  remember  that  in  England  was  a  gouty, 
helpless  invalid  who  would  make  his  appearance 
before  long,  and  would  relegate  the  Lieutenant- 
General  to  a  secondary  position.  Vitrolles,  the 
Prince's  principal  adviser,  who  had  been  sent  by 
the  Provisional  Government  to  hasten  his  arrival  in 
Paris,  says,  speaking  of  three  days  after  his  entry 
there  : 

"  In  the  middle  of  our  conversation  the  Prince 
interrupted  himself  suddenly  with  a  look  of  astonish- 
ment. 

"  '  And  the  King  ?  '  he  said. 

"  *  How,  the  King  ?  '  I  answered. 

<c  *  And  the  King  !  '  he  began  again  ;  '  we  have  been 

here    for    three    days,    and    we    have    not    written    to 

h«      >  >>  1 
1m. 

The  existence  of  the  King  was  certainly  a  disagree- 
able fact  ;  but  Monsieur  tried  to  console  himself  by 
remembering  his  brother's  infirmities. 

"  The  King  has  excellent  brains,"  he  said,  "  as  clear 
as  at  thirty  years  of  age  ;  but  he  is  helpless,  or  nearly 
so.  Well  !  he  will  think  for  us,  and  we  shall  act  for 
him  !  "  2 

With  Louis  XVlII's  distrust  of  the  wisdom  of  his 
brother's  actions,  it  seemed  unlikely  that  he  would  view 
with  complacency  this  programme,  which  would  re- 
legate him  decidedly  to  the  background  ;  and  it  must 
be  allowed  that  in  view  of  his  chances  of  reigning  in 
peace  and  security,  his  attack  of  gout  was  most  in- 
opportune. The  brothers  had,  as  we  know,  been  fond 
of  each   other   in   the  past,  but   the  quarrels  between 

1  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  ii.  p.  28. 
a  Beugnot,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  145. 


200  Louis  XVIII 

their  followers  in  England,  and  the  small  rankling 
reasons  for  jealousy  which  arise  continually  when  a 
number  of  people  without  sufficient  occupation  are 
confined  together  in  a  small  space,  had  impaired  the 
cordiality  of  their  feelings  for  each  other  ;  so  that 
the  warmth  of  brotherly  affection  which  had  caused 
the  Comte  d'Artois  to  spare  himself  no  pains  to  pro- 
vide for  his  brother's  pecuniary  necessities,  and 
Louis  XVIII  to  feel  intense  gratitude  for  his  efforts, 
had  cooled  ;  and  the  Comte  d'Artois  looked  upon  the 
King  with  suspicion,  as  the  exponent  of  the  tempor- 
ising policy  which  in  his  opinion  had  brought  Louis 
XVI  to  destruction. 

Louis  XVIII,  on  the  other  hand,  felt  no  confidence 
in  his  brother's  wisdom  ;  and  when,  before  leaving 
England,  he  was  congratulated  by  the  Due  de  Duras 
on  seeing  the  crown  firmly  established  in  the  House 
of  Bourbon,  he  answered  : 

<c  Well  established  :   that  depends." 

"Is  it  not,  then,  the  King's  intention  to  accept  the 
crown  ?  " 

"  I  accept  it,"  answered  Louis  XVIII,  "  and  it  will 
remain  in  our  hands  if  1  survive  my  brother.  But 
if  he  survives  me,  I  answer  for  nothing."  1 

Monsieur  was  already  beginning  to  do  harm  ;  for 
a  masterly  inactivity  was  impossible  to  him  ;  he  must 
always  be  at  work.  Therefore,  instead  of  trying  with 
patriotic  self-abnegation  to  strengthen  the  throne  by 
enrolling  himself  under  the  King's  orders,  and  thus 
helping  to  weld  the  discordant  elements  of  party  into 
a  workable  whole,  he  surrounded  himself  with  passionate 
and  prejudiced  Royalists,  and  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  party  in  the  State  which  was  to  become  a  far 
1  See  Daudet's  £.7nigration,  vol.  iii.  p.  534. 


Mischief  done  by  Monsieur  201 

greater  embarrassment  to  the  King's  Government  than 
were  the  most  violent  Revolutionaries.  In  fact,  a 
competent  observer1  traces  the  foundation  of  nearly 
all  the  mistakes  which  brought  about  the  success  of 
Napoleon's  Hundred  Days,  to  the  time  when  Monsieur 
held  the  reins  of  government.  Perhaps  this  is  saying 
too  much,  but  at  any  rate  Louis  XVIII  had  good 
reason  to  execrate  his  inopportune  attack  of  gout. 
With  Louis  XVIII's  arrival  in  Paris  Monsieur  became 
comparatively  innocuous,  but  even  then  he  managed 
to  hamper  the  march  of  the  Government  by  estab- 
lishing a  secret  police  of  his  own,  which  naturally 
caused  the  greatest  trouble  to  the  authorised  body  ; 
and  when  Comte  Beugnot,  the  Director  of  the  Govern- 
mental Police,  remonstrated  with  him  on  the  subject, 
he  accused  him  of  having  Bonapartists  as  agents  and 
officials. 

However,  in  these  early  days,  people  considered  that 
when  once  the  King  made  his  appearance,  all  wrong 
would  be  righted  ;  and  Louis  XVIII's  goodness  and 
extreme  wisdom  were  the  principal  topics  of  the  day. 
When  Comte  Beugnot  complained  of  Monsieur's 
doings,  and  of  the  sort  of  men  with  whom  he  was 
surrounded,  to  the  Bailli  de  Crussol,  who  had  known 
the  Prince  from  his  youth,  "  Eh  !  good  heavens,  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  tell  me  that,"  answered  the 
Bailli.  "  That  weakness  is  not  a  novelty  ;  I  fought  it 
forty-five  years  ago.  Follow  my  advice,  get  the  King 
to  come  ;  get  him  to  come  as  soon  as  you  can.  He 
is  not  the  kind  of  man  to  allow  the  bread  to  be 
eaten  out  of  his  hand  ;  not  one  of  those  people  you 
speak  of  will  dare  to  appear  twice  before  him.  The 
King  will  take  possession  of  the  Government  ;  and  you 
1  Pasquier's  Memoires,  p.  7. 


202  Louis  XVIII 

may  feel  quite  comfortable,  he  will  only  leave  his 
brother  what  he  cannot  take  from  him."  ! 

This  sounded  hopeful ;  but  the  Bailli  reckoned  with- 
out Blacas,  who,  though  bitterly  hated  by  Monsieur, 
was  a  Royalist  of  the  old  type.  Already  the  usual  fate 
of  a  Royal  favourite  was  preparing  for  him,  and  people 
were  asking  each  other,  with  a  contempt  which 
hardly  hid  the  distrustful  alarm  behind  the  question  : 
"  Who  is  this  Monsieur  de  Blacas  ?  " 

The  Due  de  Liancourt  Rochefoucauld  had  been  sent 
by  Talleyrand  to  the  King  at  Hartwell,  in  the  hope  that 
Louis  XVIII's  reception  of  him  would  show  his  intention 
to  forgive  all  the  past  offences.  For  the  Duke  had 
sinned  deeply  ;  first  in  siding  with  the  Revolution,  and 
afterwards,  when  deprived  of  his  office  as  "  Grand 
Maitre,"  by  returning  his  "  cordon  bleu  "  to  the  King. 
But  the  Duke  was  not  received  by  his  Royal  Master, 
but  by  "  a  certain  Monsieur  de  Blacas,  who  guards  all 
avenues."     Already  the  storm  was  brewing. 

The  news  of  Louis  XVIII's  formal  recall  to  France 
reached  him  by  a  messenger  sent  from  the  Regent, 
who  arrived  at  Hartwell  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  was  conducted  by  Monsieur  de  Blacas, 
lighted  by  a  single  candle,  down  a  dark  passage  to 
the  King's  bedroom.  There  Louis  XVIII  received 
the  tidings  that  the  great  longing  of  his  life  was  at 
last  to  be  satisfied,  with  the  quiet  dignity  which  always 
characterised  him. 

In  England,  the  news  was  received  with  acclamations 
of  joy,  for  the  recall  of  the  Bourbons  meant  the 
downfall  of  the  hated  Bonaparte  ;  and  when  Louis 
XVIII  went  to  London  on  his  way  back  to  his  own 
country,  troops  were  sent  out  to  Stanmore  to  act  as  his 
1  Beugnot,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  166. 


Is  Formally  Recalled  to  France  203 

escort,  and  crowds  assembled  to  cheer  him.  His  car- 
riage, which  also  contained  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme, 
the  Prince  de  Conde,  and  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  was 
drawn  through  the  London  streets  by  eight  white 
Hanoverian  horses,  and  was  surrounded  by  English 
gentlemen  on  horseback  wearing  white  cockades. 

Thus  was  Louis  XVIII  conducted  along  the 
Edgware  Road,  into  Hyde  Park  by  Cumberland  Gate, 
and  out  again  by  Hyde  Park  Corner  to  Albemarle 
Street,  where  a  house  had  been  prepared  for  him  and 
a  guard  of  honour  was  in  waiting.  In  the  evening, 
the  Regent  gave  a  grand  party  at  Carlton  House  in 
his  honour.  All  this  must  have  been  most  intoxicating 
to  the  man  who  for  so  many  years  had  sued  humbly 
for  a  refuge,  and  had  submitted  perforce  to  rebuffs 
and  humiliations  and  in  Louis  XVII I's  joy,  and  his 
gratitude  to  the  English  people  for  having  given  him 
an  asylum,  he  made  a  great  mistake.  For,  after  he  had 
presented  the  Regent  with  the  Order  of  St.  Esprit, 
and  had  received  in  return  that  of  the  Garter,  he  made 
a  speech,  with  the  acclamations  of  the  people  ringing 
in  his  ears  ;  and  finished  with  the  words : 

"  It  is  to  the  counsels  of  your  Royal  Highness,  to 
this  glorious  country,  and  to  the  confidence  of  its 
inhabitants,  that  I  shall  always  attribute,  in  addition 
to  Divine  Providence,  the  re-establishment  of  our 
House  on  the  Throne  of  its  Fathers." 

These  words  were  doubtless  a  natural  expression  of 
the  King's  first  transports  of  joy  and  gratitude  ;  but 
they  were  most  unfortunate,  and  lacked  the  tact  usually 
characteristic  of  Louis  XVIII's  public  utterances.  They 
excluded  all  idea  of  the  contract  between  him  and  the 
French  people  insisted  on  by  the  Moderate  party,  to 
whom  he  in  reality  owed  his  crown  ;  and  the  stress  laid 


2o4  Louis  XVIII 

on  foreign  intervention  tended,  not  only  to  lower  the 
prestige  of  the  Bourbon  Family  in  the  eyes  of  all 
patriots,  but  also  to  hurt  the  feelings  of  the  Royalists, 
who  were  now  rejoicing  in  the  very  natural  idea  that 
their  energetic  efforts  were  the  cause  of  the  triumph 
of  the  legitimate  Monarchy. 

The  French  King  stayed  for  three  days  in  London, 
and  then,  accompanied  by  the  Regent,  he  went  to 
Dover  and  embarked  on  the  English  yacht  Royal 
Sovereignty,  which  was  escorted  by  the  Duke  of 
Clarence's  frigate,  by  eight  vessels  of  the  line,  and  by 
a  crowd  of  smaller  boats  decorated  with  flags  ;  while 
from  the  cliffs,  the  guns  of  the  Royal  Artillery  fired 
salvoes. 

In  the  words  of  a  Royalist  writer  : 1  "  Two  hours 
sufficed  to  transport  to  Calais  the  Prince  summoned  by 
so  many  prayers.  It  was  April  24th,  18 14,  the  weather 
was  splendid,  and  I  have  heard  those  present  say  that 
a  more  noble  sight  had  never  been  offered  for  their 
admiration.  The  people  covered  the  shore.  The 
British  vessels  had  opened  their  ranks  to  let  the  pleasure 
yacht  approach  which  a  glorious  fortune  wafted  on 
already  peaceful  waters.  The  whole  garrison  of  Lille, 
after  a  forced  march,  arrived  at  this  happy  moment, 
led  by  the  brave  General  Maison,  and  represented  the 
French  Army  in  this  touching  reconciliation,  where 
hearts  mingled  without  explanations  being  necessary. 
Marechal  Money,  who  was  embraced  by  the  King, 
courtiers  who  came  again  to  take  the  posts  they  or 
their  fathers  had  occupied,  magistrates  who  brought 
congratulations,  women  who  burst  into  tears,  the 
confused  cries  of  the  multitude,  made  a  charming 
medley. 

1  Memoires  de  Madame  de  Chastenay,  vol.  ii.  p.  349. 


Return  to  France  as  King  205 

"  Then  landed  this  King,  whose  age  and  infirmities 
inspired  respect,  while  his  look,  the  sound  of  his  voice, 
his  gentle  words,  were  so  many  tokens  of  love. 
Madame,  in  the  simplicity  of  a  most  modest  toilette, 
the  foreign  fashion  of  which  made  it  particularly 
remarkable,  was  affable  without  realising  it,  merely  by 
her  absolute  naturalness.  Undisguised  virtue  shone 
in  her.  After  the  pompous  spectacles  full  of  prepared 
effects,  and  arrogance,  which  were  the  fashion  under 
Bonaparte,  people  were  surprised  at  a  grandeur  so 
natural  and  unlaboured.  But  was  there  time  for 
thinking  ?  An  open  carriage  waited  on  the  shore, 
fiery  steeds  champed  their  bits,  the  sailors  themselves 
dragged  the  King.  The  church,  where  the  Te  Deum 
was  less  chanted  than  cried  in  chorus,  would  not  hold 
all  who  wished  to  enter  it  ;  the  town,  the  shore,  all 
had  become  a  temple,  and  it  was  with  no  division 
from  heaven  that  Justice  and  Peace  embraced  each 
other  on  earth." 

So  Louis  XVIII  saw  his  country  again,  after  an 
exile  of  twenty-three  years. 

The  arrival  at  Amiens  was  no  less  successful  than 
that  at  Calais  ;  but  at  Compiegne,  where  the  King 
remained  for  several  days,  more  anxious  thoughts  must 
have  intruded  themselves,  for  he  received  a  copy  of 
the  Constitution  drawn  up  by  the  Senate.  In  this  the 
doctrine  of  legitimacy  was  denied,  so  that  the  King, 
strictly  speaking,  had  no  right  to  the  title  of  Louis 
XVIII,  as  Louis  XVII  had  never  reigned,  and  he 
was  merely  summoned  by  the  French  people  to  follow 
his  brother,  Louis  XVI,  on  the  throne.  The  King 
received  the  document  with  his  usual  dignity  ;  but 
said  nothing  which  would  bind  his  future  action  in 
any  way. 


2o6  Louis  XVIII 

At  Compiegne,  the  King  gave  many  audiences, 
receiving  political  personages,  functionaries,  and  other 
notabilities  who  had  flocked  out  of  Paris  to  pay  their 
respects  to  him.  Every  one  was  charmed  by  his  per- 
sonality ;  in  spite  of  his  excessive  stoutness,  he  was 
"  every  inch  a  King,"  and  his  fine  features,  the  brilliant 
eyes  which  could  at  times  intimidate  even  the  Monarch 
of  All  the  Russias,  but  were  also  capable  of  an  expres- 
sion of  bonhomie  and  of  extreme  kindliness,  won  him 
general  admiration.  His  kingliness  was  remarkable, 
and,  with  all  his  courtesy  and  gentleness,  he  could  use 
it  as  an  insurmountable  barrier  between  himself  and 
the  world  at  large.  His  reserve  kept  others  at  a  dis- 
tance, for  he  possessed  to  perfection  the  power  of  never 
revealing  his  thought  or  intention,  and  his  wit,  as  well 
as  the  literary  character  of  his  conversation,  were  some- 
times alarming. 

Therefore,  as  people  began  to  know  him  well,  they 
found  something  repellent  though  fascinating  about 
him,  as  there  is  wherever  an  incalculable  quantity  exists 
in  character.  His  mind  was,  unlike  his  brother's, 
impossible  to  fathom,  and  his  bland  serenity  covered 
him  like  a  mask,  so  that  those  who  approached  him 
found  him  difficult  to  influence,  and  were  conscious  of 
a  feeling  of  insecurity,  for  they  were  often  unable  to 
guess  from  his  manner  how  he  regarded  them. 

His  happy  way  of  expressing  himself,  however, 
covered  a  multitude  of  sins,  particularly  on  an  occasion 
like  this,  when  he  knew  instinctively  the  right  thing  to 
say  to  each  person  who  approached  him.  Even  his 
infirmities  helped  him.  What  could  have  been  more 
graceful  than  his  behaviour  to  Napoleon's  Marshals, 
who  had  flocked  to  Compiegne  to  be  the  first  to  offer 
congratulations  ;    a    duty    which     they    performed    in 


His  Demeanour  as  King  207 

somewhat  servile  fashion.  As  they  stood  respectfully- 
round  him,  he  tried  to  rise,  and  two  of  the  officers  of 
his  household  came  forward  as  usual  to  assist  him  ;  but 
refusing  their  assistance,  he  seized  the  arms  of  the  two 
Marshals  nearest,  and  said: 

"  It  is  on  you,  Messieurs,  that  1  wish  to  support 
myself  ;  come  near  and  surround  me.  You  have  always 
been  good  Frenchmen.  I  hope  that  France  will  no 
longer  have  need  of  your  swords,  but  if  ever,  which 
God  forbid,  we  were  forced  to  draw  them,  gouty  as  I 
am,  I  should  march  with  you." 

Talleyrand  was  not  so  fortunate,  for  to  him 
Louis  XVIII's  apparently  charming  remarks  were 
provided  with  a  sting  of  which  he  must  have  been 
conscious,  though  he  pretended  to  ignore  it.  He  had 
in  reality  secured  the  crown  for  Louis  XVIII;  but, 
probably  because  that  fact  revolted  Bourbon  pride,  and 
was,  if  possible,  to  be  slurred  over,  he  was  kept  waiting 
for  two  or  three  hours  when  he  came  to  seek  for  an 
audience,  and  was  only  admitted  at  last  by  the  interven- 
tion of  Monsieur  de  Blacas.  The  King,  however, 
received  him  with  his  usual  charm  of  manner,  and 
began  the  conversation   by  these  words  : 

"  Monsieur  le  Prince  de  Benevent,  I  am  charmed  to 
see  you  again.  Many  things  have  happened  since  we 
last  saw  each  other.  You  realise  that  we  have  been  the 
cleverest.  If  it  had  been  you,  you  would  say  to  me  : 
Let  us  sit  down  and  talk  ;  as  it  is  I,  I  say  :  Sit  down, 
and  let  us  talk."  * 

In  relating  this  conversation  to  his  intimates,  Talley- 
rand affected  to  be  absolutely  charmed  with  the  King's 
politeness,    and  with    the  way    he   established    equality 
between  himself  and  his  visitor,  while  he  appeared   not 
1  Beugnot,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 


2o8  Louis  XVIII 

to  notice  the  sly  insinuation  that  after  all  it  was  the 
King,  not  the  Prince  de  Benevent,  who  was  in  the  end 
triumphant,  and  with  gracious  forgiveness  accorded  his 
favours  to  his  disloyal  servant.  He  also,  in  telling 
the  story,  omitted  the  fact  that  the  King  refused 
altogether  to  discuss  public  affairs  with  him,  or  to 
listen  to  his  warnings  on  the  folly  of  keeping  the 
Senate  waiting  for  his  signature.  Louis  XVIII  did 
not  intend  to  put  himself  under  the  tutelage  of 
Monsieur  de  Talleyrand. 

Another  person  who  cannot  have  enjoyed  his  visit 
to  Compiegne  was  the  Comte  d'Artois.  Much  to  the 
disappointment  of  the  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  he  had  re- 
fused to  be  accompanied  by  him,  possibly  preferring  to 
be  alone  with  the  King  when  he  gave  the  account  of 
his  stewardship.  No  one  knows  exactly  what  passed 
during  the  interview,  as,  on  his  return  from  Compiegne, 
he  was  extremely  reserved  about  the  matter  even  to 
his  confidant  Vitrolles,  and  merely  talked  about  the 
King's  good  health.  It  is  believed,  however,  that,  in 
addition  to  other  criticisms  of  his  brother's  conduct  of 
public  affairs,  the  King  reproached  him  bitterly  with 
having  assumed  the  responsibility  of  deciding  that  the 
French  garrisons  should  evacuate  the  places  still  held 
by  them  in  Germany  and  in  Belgium,  and  that  distress 
at  his  own  mistake  and  at  the  King's  anger,  caused  the 
serious  illness  from  which  the  Comte  d'Artois  suffered 
soon  afterwards. 

Another  visitor  who  was  scarcely  treated  with  the 
courtesy  usually  shown  by  Louis  XVI 1 1,  was  Alexander  I 
of  Russia,  who  came  with  the  object  of  acting  as 
mediator  between  the  King  and  Senate,  and  intended  to 
spend  the  night  at  Compiegne.  However,  he  left  in 
disgust   when,   after    being    treated    with    the   greatest 


From  an  engraving  by_Henry  Meyer,  after  a  painting  by  Volkoff. 

ALEXANDER    I., 

CZAR    OF    RUSSIA. 
p.  208] 


First  Interviews  209 

formality  by  the  King,  he  was  conducted  through 
several  magnificent  suites  of  rooms,  intended,  he  was 
told,  for  Monsieur,  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  and  the 
Due  de  Berry,  all  of  whom  were  absent  ;  and  was 
afterwards  taken  up  staircases  and  along  corridors,  to 
the  very  modest  suite  of  rooms  he  was  expected  to 
occupy.  When  the  Russian  Minister,  Pozzo  di  Borgo, 
who  had  accompanied  the  Czar,  tried  to  find  excuses, 
and  to  soften  his  master's  very  natural  resentment, 
by  pleading  that  the  King's  helplessness  did  not 
allow  him  to  supervise  anything  himself,  Alexander 
answered,  with  a  touch  of  spite,  that  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme  appeared  sufficiently  like  a  housekeeper 
to  have  been  able  to  attend  to  the  allotment  of  the 
rooms.1 

The  etiquette  observed  at  dinner  was  even  more 
galling  to  the  Czar's  sense  of  his  own  dignity,  for  the 
King,  having  asked  his  guest  to  take  in  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme,  passed  on  before  them,  sat  in  the  only 
armchair  at  dinner,  and  was  served  first. 

There  was  to  be  no  mistake  about  the  fact  that  the 
Bourbons  took  precedence  of  the  upstart  Russian 
rulers,  and  possibly  there  lingered  in  Louis  XVIII's 
mind  a  recollection  of  how  Alexander  had  refused  him 
the  title  of  King,  and  had  treated  him  as  a  common- 
place person  of  no  account ;  but  policy  as  well  as 
good  feeling,  might  well  have  dictated  a  different 
behaviour  towards  the  generous  defender  of  French 
interests. 

The  Corps  Legislatif  sent  to  Compiegne  a  deputation 

of   twenty-five  members  ;    but  the   Senate  held  aloof, 

as  they  had  done  at  the  time  of  Monsieur's  entry  into 

Paris,    being   reluctant   to    acknowledge    the    Bourbons 

1  Boigne,  Memoires,  vol.  i.  p.  288. 

14 


210  Louis  XVIII 

until  after  the  signing  of  the  contract  between  the  King 
and  the  Nation. 

On  May  2nd  the  King  moved  to  Saint-Ouen,  where 
the  Senate  and  the  members  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment— being  able  to  put  off  their  visit  no  longer — 
came  to  pay  their  respects  to  him.  It  was  now  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  some  declaration  to  be  made  at 
once,  as  the  public  entry  into  Paris  was  announced  for 
the  next  day.  Therefore  the  celebrated  affirmation 
known  as  the  Declaration  of  Saint-Ouen,  was  drawn  up 
in  a  great  hurry  by  Monsieur  de  Vitrolles,  Monsieur  de 
Blacas,  and  Monsieur  de  Maisonfort. 

In  this  the  King  stated  that  the  Constitution 
proposed  by  the  Senate  was  on  a  good  basis  ;  but  that 
many  of  the  articles  had  been  drawn  up  in  too  great  a 
hurry  to  form  fundamental  laws  of  the  State.  He 
promised  a  liberal  Constitution,  and  convoked  the 
Senate  and  the  Corps  Legislatif  for  June  ioth,  to 
examine  the  agreement  between  himself  and  his 
people,  which  was  about  to  be  drawn  up  by  a  chosen 
Commission.  He  went  on  to  say  that  he  promised  to 
preserve  the  Representative  Government,  and  that,  as 
in  Napoleon's  time,  there  would  be  two  Chambers,  or, 
as  we  should  term  it,  an  Upper  and  a  Lower  House. 
Taxes  would  not  be  imposed  without  the  consent  of 
the  Government,  public  and  individual  liberty  were 
assured,  the  liberty  of  the  Press  was  promised — neces- 
sary precautions,  however,  being  taken  for  public 
safety — liberty  of  religion  was  guaranteed,  property 
was  to  be  sacred  and  inviolable,  the  sale  of  national 
property  was  declared  irrevocable,  pensions,  grades,  and 
military  honours  were  to  be  conserved,  as  well  as  the 
titles  of  the  old  and  new  nobility,  and  no  one  was 
to  be  punished  for  his  votes  or  opinions  ;   while   the 


Declaration  of  Saint'Ouen  211 

celebrated  Legion  of  Honour  was  to  be  maintained  as 
in  the  late  Emperor's  time. 

The  Declaration  appeared  in  the  Moniteur  on  the 
morning  of  the  King's  entry  into  Paris,  and  every 
one,  except  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand,  who  considered 
some  of  the  expressions  ambiguous,  and  was  naturally 
indignant  that  he  had  not  been  consulted  about  the 
drawing  up  of  the  document,  was  delighted  with  it. 
The  famous  Charter  was  indeed  only  a  development 
of  this  first  Declaration,  of  which  Louis  XVIII  was 
always  extremely  proud,  as  he  considered  that  it 
marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  France. 

The  feelings  of  the  French  people  were  now  attuned 
to  greet  the  King's  entry  into  Paris  with  proper 
enthusiasm,  though  the  glamour  and  exuberant  emotion 
with  which  Monsieur  had  been  received  had  somewhat 
diminished,  and  doubts  as  to  future  Bourbon  policy, 
as  well  as  a  prevision  of  future  difficulties  and  divisions, 
had  already  begun  to  be  felt.  Besides,  it  was  easier  to 
feel  ardent  affection  for  Monsieur  riding  his  charger, 
childlike  in  his  happiness,  overcome  by  the  force  of 
his  joyous  sensations,  than  for  an  infirm  King,  who 
sat  helpless  in  his  carriage,  and  looked  tired  and 
indifferent. 

Louis  XVIII  was  dressed  in  a  plain  blue  coat  with 
large  epaulettes,  had  a  three-cornered  hat  on  his  head, 
and  wore  the  blue  order  and  the  badge  of  Saint  Esprit. 
He  was  certainly  completely  without  power  of  express- 
ing his  emotions  with  spontaneity.  He  could  compose 
suitable  speeches  for  any  occasion  which  might  arise  ; 
but  the  very  self-control  which  was  at  times  invaluable, 
and  which  his  enemies  said  was  aided  by  coldness  of 
heart,  hindered  that  naive  expression  of  passionate 
feeling   which    is   magnetic    in   its    power   over   others, 


2i2  Louis  XVIII 

and  which,  when  backed  up  by  other  qualities,  will 
raise  a  man  above  his  fellows,  and  enable  him  to 
dominate  the  multitude. 

On  this  occasion,  however,  the  Duchesse  d'Angou- 
leme  was  the  heroine  of  the  day,  and  her  Uncle  wished 
to  show  that  he  was  aware  of  this,  so  pointed  her  out 
continually  to  the  people,  as  though  to  make  her  the 
centre  of  enthusiasm  ;  but  his  action  seemed  affected 
and  theatrical,  and  on  a  par  with  his  appearance  with 
her  later  at  one  of  the  windows  of  the  Tuileries,  when 
he  was  seen  putting  a  crown  of  flowers  on  her  head.1 
However,  the  sight  was  greeted  with  enthusiasm  by 
the  crowd  beneath. 

Madame's  dress  had  caused  much  dismay  when  she 
first  landed  in  France,  as  French  and  English  fashions 
were  then  absolutely  dissimilar  ;  and  her  close  hat  and 
scanty  frock  looked  extraordinary  beside  the  flowing 
feathers,  puffs,  and  huge  toques  worn  by  the  Parisian 
ladies.  It  had  been  very  difficult  to  persuade  her  to 
alter  her  costume,  even  for  this  grand  occasion  ;  but 
a  council  of  ladies  had  discussed  the  matter,  and 
had  sent  her  to  Saint-Ouen  a  feather  toque  of  the 
orthodox  shape,  a  ruffle,  and  a  robe  embroidered  in 
silver. 

The  ceremony  of  a  public  entry  was  to  Madame 
a  terrible  ordeal,  for  recollections  and  associations  of 
horror  pressed  upon  her.  The  populace,  who  now 
decked  their  houses  with  white  flags,  wore  the  white 
cockade,  and  assembled  in  crowds  on  the  pavements 
to  cheer  and  cry  "  Vive  le  Roi  !  "  was  the  same  that 
had  besieged  Versailles,  perpetrated  the  abominations 
of  August  ioth,  and  had  shouted  insults  to  Marie 
Antoinette  on  her  way  to  the  scaffold.  Therefore  the 
1  Frenilly  Memoires,  p.  355. 


King's  Entry  into  Paris  213 

Princess  sat  beside  her  Uncle  with  red  eyes,  not  seeing 
the  present  for  the  thronging  memories  of  the  past, 
and  looking  stiff  and  constrained  in  the  fashionable 
garments,  to  which  she  had  somehow  managed  to 
impart  a  foreign   look. 

When  the  procession  reached  Notre-Dame,  and  the 
Royal  party  went  into  the  church  for  the  King  to 
receive  the  holy  water  and  to  hear  the  Te  Deum,  the 
Princess  sank  in  tears  on  her  prie-dieu  ;  and  on  her 
arrival  at  the  Tuileries  she  nearly  fainted,  and  was 
unable  to  receive  the  ladies  who  had  come  to  offer  her 
baskets  of  flowers. 

There  were  others  in  the  procession  to  whom  this 
day  was  a  terrible  ragedy — a  commemoration  of  the 
fact  that  their  day  was  over  for  ever.  Lining  the  street 
from  the  Pont-Neuf  to  Notre-Dame  were  the  Old 
Imperial  Guard,  while  a  detachment  of  grenadiers  from 
the  same  body  marched  behind  the  King's  carriage. 
It  had  been  intended  in  this  manner  to  show  the  Guard 
special  honour  ;  but,  to  any  close  observer,  its  aspect 
was  ominous. 

"  It  marched  quickly,"  1  says  Madame  de  Boigne  ; 
"  silent  and  gloomy,  full  of  remembrances  of  the  past. 
It  stopped,  by  a  look,  our  outbursts  of  affection  for 
those  who  were  arriving.  The  shouts  of  '  Long  live 
the  King  !  '  died  on  our  lips  as  it  rode  by.  Here  and 
there  were  heard  shouts  of  £  Long  live  the  Guard  !  ' 
'  Long  live  the  Old  Guard  !  '  But  it  did  not  welcome 
these,  and  appeared  to  accept  them  in  derision.  As  it 
passed  by  the  silence  became  general,  and  soon  nothing 
could  be  heard  but  the  monotonous  tramp  of  the 
quick-step  striking  our  very  hearts.  The  consterna- 
tion increased,  and  the  contagious  sadness  of  these  old 

1  Memoires,  vol.  i.  p.  292. 


2i4  Louis  XVIII 

warriors  gave  to  the  whole  ceremony  the  appearance 
of  the  Emperor's  funeral  rather  than  that  of  the  King's 
accession." 

Thus,  with  the  mingled  joy  and  suffering  which 
must  attend  any  great  national  change,  was  the 
Restoration  of  the  Bourbon  Family  accomplished,  and 
Louis  XVIII  returned  to  the  throne  of  his  fathers. 


CHAPTER   XII 

The  King's  Councils— The  Ministry— The  Charter— The  Treaty  of 
Paris — Ceremony  of  the  Reading  of  the  Charter — Difficulties  and 
mistakes — The  ultra-Royalists — The  Jacobins — The  Imperialists — 
French  society — The  "  Maison  du  Roi  " — The  Army — Discontent 
and  danger— Talleyrand  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna — The  King's 
foreign  policy. 

THE  Restoration  accomplished,  two  most  important 
matters  occupied  general  attention — the  question 
of  the  amount  of  territory  which  the  Allies  would  allow 
France  to  retain,  and  of  the  measure  of  liberty  which 
the  King  would  accord  to  his  subjects  in  the  promised 
Charter. 

Meanwhile,  Councils  were  held  and  presided  over 
by  the  King,  or  rather  "  listened  to  "  by  him.  "  Our 
monarchical  instincts,"  says  Monsieur  de  Vitrolles, 
"  refused  to  qualify  him  as  President.  Louis  XIV 
listened  to  his  Council,  he  did  not  preside  over  it  !  "  1 
At  any  rate,  however,  the  knotty  point  between 
"  presiding  '  and  "  listening "  may  be  settled,  the 
King  was  always  present  at  the  Council,  and  sat  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  the  members,  except  the 
Princes,  being  provided  with  the  stools  without  backs 
known  as  "pliants."  The  King  won  much  approval 
in  his  conduct  of  his  first  Council,  as  the  glance 
round  the  table,  in  which  he  included  every  one, 
was    kindly,  yet  full   of  dignity,  and   when    he  spoke 

1  Vitrolles  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  41. 
215 


216  Louis  XVIII 

his   words   were  well    chosen   and    his  voice    full    and 
sonorous. 

The    Ministry  was    quickly  formed.     The    post   of 
Chancellor  of  France,  which   conferred  the  presidency 
of  the  Royal  Council  and  the  direction  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice,  was  re-established,  and  was  given  to 
Monsieur  Dambray,  who   before   the   Revolution  had 
made   himself  a  great   reputation  as  lawyer,  but  who 
had  since  retired  into  private  life,  and  had  lost  touch 
with  the  new   transmogrified  France.     To  Talleyrand 
was  confided  the  post  of  Foreign  Minister,  an  appoint- 
ment which   it   was  impossible   to  prevent,  though  it 
was  no  doubt  bestowed  with  reluctance  ;  while — as  if  to 
counterpoise  his  influence — the  Abbe  de  Montesquiou, 
a   man    essentially  of  the  Ancien  Regime,  but  honest 
and  disinterested,  "  who  had  been  unshakably  faithful 
to  his  cause,  his  class,  his  friends,  his  master,"  1  was 
persuaded,  much  against  his  will,  to  become  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  and  Blacas  was  called  to  the  head  of 
the  "  Maison  du  Roi,"  and  was  the  King's  confidential 
adviser  on  everything.     Another  appointment  in  this 
short-lived    Ministry  was    that    of  the    witty,   though 
maladroit,  Comte  Beugnot  to  the  Directorship  of  the 
Police  ;  while  Baron  Louis,  who  possessed  much  ability 
and    public    spirit    and    had    served  under    Napoleon, 
remained  in  charge  of  the  finances.     General  Dupont, 
also    an   Imperialist,   still    held   the    post   of    Minister 
of  War,  and  Baron  Malouet,  who  had  been  a  member 
of  the    Assemblee    Constituante,   kept    the    charge   of 
the  Navy. 

Many  dangers  had  been  avoided  in  forming  this 
Ministry,  and  the  King  had  carefully  excluded  Mon- 
sieur's   favourites    from    it ;     but    it    was    a    strangely 

1  Guizot  Memoires,  vol.  i.  p.  38. 


The  Ministry  217 

heterogeneous  set  of  men,  absolutely  opposed  to  each 
other  in  sentiments,  views,  and  experiences,  who  were 
set  the  task  of  forming  a  new  and  united  France. 

Monsieur,  in  spite  of  possessing  no  official  position, 
had  a  considerable  voice  in  the  Government.  "  The 
King  has  received  a  list  from  M.  le  due  de  Feltre,  and 
has  said  that  he  will  think,  about  it  at  leisure  ;  when- 
ever the  King  thinks  at  leisure,  Monsieur  thinks  with 
him,"1  says  one  of  the  Ministers. 

The  Ministry  was  not  like  our  modern  English 
views  of  similar  institutions,  for  the  members  of  it 
were  almost  entirely  independent  of  each  other,  and 
each  head  of  a  department  submitted  his  work 
separately  to  the  King. 

Therefore,  if  a  Minister  promulgated  a  law  which 
was  viewed  with  disfavour  by  the  nation — when,  for 
instance,  Comte  Beugnot,  as  head  of  the  police,  passed 
a  measure  stopping  all  business  on  Sundays  and  feast- 
days — the  other  members  of  the  Ministry  disclaimed 
responsibility  for  the  unpopular  edict.  This  want 
of  unity  in  the  Ministry  militated  against  its  weight 
with  the  country,  and  was  a  cause  of  much  weakness 
and  vacillation  in  the  Government. 

It  also  invested  each  individual  Minister  with 
enormous  responsibility,  for  Louis  XVIII  was  not 
sufficiently  strong,  either  mentally  or  physically,  to 
undertake  the  extraordinary  amount  of  work  which 
Napoleon  had  taken  upon  his  shoulders,  and  to  have 
the  affairs  of  each  department  submitted  to  him. 
Therefore,  certain  of  the  Ministers  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  work  with  the  Emperor  and  to  present  him 
with  abstracts  of  the  affairs  in  hand,  found  it  difficult 

1  Jaucourt  to  Talleyrand,  Talleyrand  ct  Louis  XVIII  Correspondance. 
Note  to  p.  412. 


2i8  Louis  XVIII 

to  accommodate  their  arrangements  to  a  ruler  who  did 
not  care  to  be  troubled  with  detail.  Comte  Beugnot, 
the  Director  of  Police,  who  had  watched  with  dismay 
the  impatience  and  boredom  with  which  his  Majesty 
listened  to  his  reports,  tells  us  that  he  related  his  troubles 
to  his  colleague,  l'Abbe  Louis,  who  laughed  heartily. 
"  What,"  he  said,  "  did  you  not  notice  from  the  first 
day,  from  the  first  bit  of  business,  that  you  were  boring 
the  King  to  death  ?  Besides,  what  is  the  use  of 
making  reports  to  him  ?  You  might  as  well  make 
them  to  a  saint  in  his  niche.  For  my  part  I  present 
him  the  ordinances  to  sign,  and  he  never  refuses  one. 
Only,  as  it  takes  him  a  long  time  to  sign  his  name, 
while  he  works  at  that,  1  tell  him  a  little  about  the 
affair.  I  do  not  bore  him  ;  it  is  he  who  bores 
me,  because  he  is  so  long  in  making  his  signa- 
ture." l 

It  was  at  one  of  the  Councils  of  his  Ministers,  that 
the  King  made  the  gracious  remark  which  has  since 
become  an  axiom.  The  Ministers  had  assembled  as 
usual  in  the  anteroom,  and  had  become  so  much 
interested  in  their  conversation  that  they  did  not 
remember  how  time  was  going,  and  entered  the 
council-chamber  rather  late,  to  find  the  King  already 
waiting.  The  Chancellor,  Monsieur  Dambray,  began 
to  make  rather  confused  excuses,  and  finished  them 
with  an  eulogy  of  the  King's  punctuality. 

"  Messieurs,"  answered  his  Majesty,  "  including  us 
all  in  one  of  the  caressing  glances  of  which  he  alone 
knew  the  secret,"  a  punctuality  is  the  politeness  of 
kings."  2 

When  the  Charter  had  been  promulgated,  the 
government  was  complicated,  and  the  Ministry  further 

'  Beugnot  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  160.  3  Ibid.,  p.  263. 


King's  Temporising  Policy  219 

weakened,  by  the  establishment  of  two  Councils  with 
different  functions — the  "  Conseil  d'en  Haut,"  which  con- 
sisted of  the  Princes,  the  Chancellor,  and  any  Ministers 
who  might  be  summoned  to  it,  and  the  "  Conseil 
d'Etat,"  which  contained  the  heads  of  the  departments. 

In  one  thing  the  King  showed  wisdom  ;  it  was  in 
vain  that  the  ardent  Royalists  implored  him  to  bring 
forward  some  statement  of  his  future  policy.  He 
intended  to  wait  on  circumstances  ;  though  it  is 
evident  that  behind  this  opportunism  was  the  deter- 
mination to  feel  his  way  cautiously  towards  obtaining 
as  much  power  as  was  practicable.  He  was  most 
careful,  however,  that  the  direction  of  his  wishes 
should  not  be  apparent  ;  and  even  Monsieur's  friend 
Monsieur  de  Vitrolles,  who  found  the  King's  person- 
ality, unlike  that  of  his  brother,  interestingly  mysterious, 
could  not  fathom  the  depths  of  his  mind.  The  King's 
limitations  no  doubt  aided  this  judicious  reticence  ;  it 
was  not  possible  for  him  to  inspire,  to  lead,  to  be  a 
ruler  of  men  ;  his  role  was  to  temporise,  to  avoid 
pitfalls,  to  prevent  mistakes,  to  show  his  sagacity 
rather  in  preventing  mischief  than  in  initiating  a 
policy  of  his  own. 

So  much  work  lay  ready  to  his  hand  at  this  time, 
that  he  might  well  be  excused  for  refusing  to  enter 
into  the  region  of  speculative  politics.  The  drawing 
up  of  the  promised  Charter  was  now  of  the  highest 
importance,  for  the  newspapers  were  full  of  contra- 
dictory reports,  suggestions,  and  rumours,  and  these 
were  rapidly  raising  public  excitement  to  fever-pitch. 

Therefore  on  May  1 8th,  18  14,  the  King,  after  dis- 
cussing the  matter  with  Montesquiou,  with  Beugnot, 
and  no  doubt  also  with  Blacas,  named  a  Commission, 
composed  of  members  chosen  by  him  out  of  the  Senate 


220  Louis  XVIII 

and  the  Corps  Legislatif,  who,  aided  by  the  three 
Ministers,  Montesquiou,  Beugnot,  and  Ferrand,  and 
presided  over  by  the  Chancellor,  Dambray,  were 
entrusted  with  the  task  of  drawing  up  the  Charter 
of  the  Constitution.  This  plan  did  not  please  every 
one,  as  it  did  not  altogether  tally  with  the  Declaration 
of  Saint-Ouen,  which  had  appeared  to  promise  that  the 
Charter  should  be  submitted  to  the  discussion  and  vote 
of  the  Senate  and  the  Corps  Legislatif  collectively. 
Talleyrand,  in  particular,  must  have  disapproved  of 
the  scheme,  for  Louis  XVIII,  still  afraid  of  his 
preponderating  influence,  did  not  consult  him  about 
the  choice  of  the  Commission,  and  ordered  Beugnot 
not  to  tell  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  anything 
which  passed  at  the  deliberations. 

These  were  many  in  number,  and  it  only  seems 
necessary  to  give  a  summary  of  the  principal  pro- 
visions of  the  Charter  as  finally  modified,  and  accepted 
by  Louis  XVIII. 

The  first  articles  dealt  with  the  u  Public  Rights 
of  Frenchmen,"  which  comprised  equality  before  the 
law,  individual  liberty,  and  liberty  in  religious  matters, 
while  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  was  declared  to 
be  the  State  religion  ;  also  liberty  of  the  Press  with 
repression  of  abuses  ;  and  inviolability  of  property, 
even  that  known  as  national ;  though  the  State  arro- 
gated to  itself  the  power  of  taking  over  a  property 
if  necessary  in  the  public  interest  ;  but  in  this  case 
suitable  compensation  must  always  be  granted.  Next 
to  the  declaration  of  rights  came  the  "  King's  forms 
of  Government."  There  were  to  be  two  Chambers — 
the  "  Chambre  des  Pairs  "  (Chamber  of  Peers),  which 
took  the  place  of  Napoleon's  Senate,  and  the  "  Chambre 
des    Deputes "    (Chamber    of    Deputies),    which    was 


The  Charter  221 

really  his  Corps  Legislatif  under  another  name.  The 
members  of  the  Chamber  of  Peers  were  nominated 
by  the  King,  either  for  life  or  with  hereditary  descent, 
and  their  number  was  unlimited.  Their  deliberations 
were  to  be  secret.  Royal  Princes  were  to  have  a  right 
to  attend  these  on  receiving  a  permission  from  the 
King,  which  was  to  be  renewed  each  Session. 

The  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  were  to 
be  elected  by  the  electoral  colleges  for  five  years,  and  a 
fifth  of  the  Chamber  was  to  be  re-elected  every  year,  so 
that  a  General  Election  was  never  to  take  place.  Each 
deputy  must  be  forty  years  of  age,  and  must  pay  a 
yearly  direct  taxation  of  1,000  francs,  while  the  electors 
must  be  thirty  years  old  or  over,  and  must  pay  300 
francs  in  taxation  yearly. 

In  theory  the  King  was  to  propose  all  laws,  though 
the  two  Chambers  acting  together  might  beg  him  to 
propose  a  law  on  a  given  subject  ;  but  if  he  were 
to  refuse  to  sanction  their  request,  the  question  must 
be  dropped  till  the  end  of  the  Session. 

The  question  of  conscription  was  difficult.  Its 
abolition  had  been  one  of  the  first  Bourbon  promises  ; 
yet  without  it  there  seemed  no  possibility  of  providing 
a  sufficient  Army.  Therefore,  against  the  wishes  of  the 
Due  d'Angouleme,  the  mode  of  recruiting  both  for 
the  Army  and  the  Navy  was  left  to  be  decided  at  some 
future  date. 

Article  14,  which  declared  among  the  attributions  of 
Royalty,  the  right  "  of  making  regulations  and  ordi- 
nances necessary  for  the  execution  of  the  laws  and  the 
safety  of  the  State,"  acquired  a  sad  celebrity  sixteen 
years  later,  when,  under  its  cover,  Monsieur,  then 
Charles  X,  made  himself  practically  Dictator,  and  lost 
the  throne  in  consequence. 


222  LOUIS    XVIII 

Meanwhile,  Talleyrand  had  been  engaged  in  con- 
sultations with  the  four  great  Allied  Powers,  and  these 
resulted  on  May  30th  in  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of 
Paris.  By  this  treaty  France,  with  small  additions, 
resumed  her  boundaries  as  in  the  year  1792,  and 
recovered  nearly  all  the  colonial  possessions  which  had 
been  taken  from  her  during  the  war. 

It  was  also  settled  that  all  the  Powers  should  send 
plenipotentiaries  to  a  Congress  which  was  to  be  held  at 
Vienna  in  the  autumn. 

It  was  necessary  to  hurry  through  the  later  consulta- 
tions on  the  Charter,  as  the  Sovereigns,  having  signed 
the  Treaty  of  Paris,  were  determined  to  leave  Paris  at 
once ;  while  the  Emperor  Alexander,  discontented  with 
Louis  XVIII's  reluctance  to  form  a  close  alliance 
with  him,  and  distrustful  of  Bourbon  promises,  was 
quite  resolved  not  to  go  before  France  had  been  granted 
constitutional  government. 

Nevertheless,  as  it  was  thought  politic  that  the  iron 
hand  should  be  very  thoroughly  concealed  by  the  glove, 
it  was  settled  that  the  Powers  should  evacuate  Paris 
before  the  Assembly  at  which  the  King  was  to  inaugurate 
constitutional  government.  Therefore,  the  foreign 
armies  marched  out  of  Paris  on  June  2nd  and  3rd, 
and  their  posts  were  occupied  by  the  Garde  Nationale. 
Only  the  Sovereigns  remained,  and  were  present  when, 
on  June  4th,  1 8 1 4,  the  King,  accompanied  by  the  Princes 
of  his  family  and  the  chief  dignitaries  of  Court  and 
State,  went  in  state  to  the  Palais-Bourbon,  the  former 
meeting-place  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  where  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  was  in  the  future  to  hold  its 
sittings. 

It  was  a  memorable  occasion,  and  the  presence  of 
the  friendly  Sovereigns,  who  sat  with  the  Royal  Family 


Inauguration  of  Constitutional  Government     223 

in  a  richly  decorated  gallery,  made  it  unique  ;  while 
the  vast  amphitheatre  was  thronged  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished and  most  elegant  people  in  France. 

A  magnificent  throne  had  been  placed  for  the  King 
on  the  platform  usually  occupied  by  the  President  of 
the  Assembly,  and  from  there  he  repeated,  in  a  strong, 
clear  voice,  the  speech  which  he  had  himself  drawn  up, 
and  in  which  he  touched  with  tact  and  discretion  on 
the  most  difficult  point  in  the  agreement,  that  of  the 
conquests  which  France  had  been  forced  to  abandon. 

"  Sirs,"  he  said,  "  when,  for  the  first  time,  I 
come  within  these  precincts,  surrounded  by  the  great 
bodies  of  the  State,  and  the  representatives  of  a 
nation  which  never  ceases  to  offer  me  the  most  touch- 
ing tokens  of  her  love,  I  congratulate  myself  in  be- 
coming the  dispenser  of  the  benefits  which  divine 
Providence  deigns  to  accord  to  my  people.  I  have 
concluded  a  peace  with  Russia,  Austria,  England,  and 
Prussia,  in  which  all  their  Allies,  that  is  to  say,  all 
the  Princes  of  Christendom,  are  included.  War  was 
universal,  so  is  reconciliation.  The  rank  which  France 
has  always  held  among  the  nations,  has  not  been 
transferred  elsewhere,  but  has  remained  undividedly 
hers.  Whatever  security  the  other  States  acquire 
increases  hers  also,  and  in  consequence  adds  to  her 
true  power.  What  she  does  not  retain  of  her  con- 
quests, must  not  be  considered  as  deducted  from  her 
real  strength.  The  glory  of  the  French  armies  has 
received  no  injury  ;  the  monuments  of  their  valour 
remain,  and  the  chefs-d'oeuvres  of  art  belong  to  us 
henceforth  by  more  durable  and  sacred  rights  than 
those  of  victory.  The  channels  of  commerce,  so  long 
closed,  will  be  free.  The  markets  of  France  will  no 
longer  be  open  only  to  the  productions  of    her  own 


224  Louis  XVIII 

soil  and  of  her  own  industry  ;  those  which  custom 
has  led  her  to  want,  or  which  are  necessary  to  the 
arts  she  exercises,  will  be  supplied  to  her  by  the 
possessions  she  recovers  ;  she  will  no  longer  be  forced 
either  to  do  without  them  or  only  to  obtain  them 
at  ruinous  prices.  Our  manufactures  will  again  flourish, 
our  maritime  towns  will  revive,  and  everything  assures 
us  that  permanent  calm  abroad,  and  durable  happiness 
at  home,  will  be  the  happy  results  of  the  peace.  A  sad 
recollection  comes  continually  to  trouble  my  joy.  I 
was  born,  I  hoped  to  remain  all  my  life  the  most 
faithful  subject  of  the  best  of  Kings,  and  to-day  I 
occupy  his  place  !  But  at  least  he  is  not  altogether 
dead  ;  he  lives  again  in  this  Will,  which  he  intended 
for  the  instruction  of  the  august  and  unfortunate 
child  whom  I  was  destined  to  succeed  !  It  is  with 
my  eyes  fixed  on  this  immortal  work,  full  of  the 
sentiments  which  dictated  it,  guided  by  the  experience 
and  helped  by  the  advice  of  some  among  you,  that 
I  have  drawn  up  the  constitutional  Charter  which  you 
will  hear  read,  and  which  is  founded  on  the  solid 
base  of  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  My  Chancellor 
will  explain  to  you  with  more  detail  my  paternal 
intentions." 

This  speech  was  greeted  with  much  applause,  which 
was  certainly  merited,  but  the  next  discourse  was  un- 
fortunate, and  was  received  with  murmurs  ;  for  the 
Chancellor  insisted  on  the  fact  that  Royalty  had  lost 
none  of  the  authority  it  had  possessed  under  the 
Ancien  Regime,  and  spoke  of  the  Charter  as  an 
"ordinance  of  reformation."  Monsieur  Ferrand,  who 
followed,  and  to  whom  the  reading  of  the  Charter 
had  been  entrusted,  read  in  a  voice  enfeebled  by  ill- 
ness a  preamble  which  had  been  composed  by  Monsieur 


Reading  of  the  Charter  225 

Beugnot,  and  in  the  press  of  business  had  not  ap- 
parently been  submitted  to  the  King ;  and  this  was 
also  on  the  lines  of  connecting  the  past  with  the 
present,  and  of  clinging  as  far  as  possible  to  the 
spirit  of  that  Ancien  Regime  which  most  Frenchmen 
wished  to  leave  behind  for  ever.  Doubtful  silence 
greeted  this  preamble,  but  the  reading  of  the  Charter 
itself  was  acclaimed  with  enthusiasm,  and  every  one 
felt  that  at  last  a  new  era  had  dawned  in  France — 
that  of  constitutional  and  representative  government. 

It  was  a  brilliant  beginning ;  but  terrible  difficulties 
beset  the  way.  Some  of  these  had  their  origin  in  the 
facts  of  Louis  XVIII's  history.  The  ideal  King  of 
France  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration  should  have 
had  no  past.  Free,  and  untrammelled  by  tradition, 
bound  to  no  party,  his  desires  centred  merely  on  the 
art  of  soothing  distracted  and  disunited  France,  and 
of  persuading  the  parties  who  hated,  feared,  and  dis- 
trusted each  other,  to  work  together,  he  might  have  ac- 
complished much  which  was  impossible  to  Louis  XVIII, 
whose  scheming  during  the  Emigration  had  not  only 
indebted  him  to  many  people,  but  had  prejudiced 
many  against  him. 

Ineffaceable  were  the  debts  the  King  owed  to  the 
Vendeans  and  Chouans,  who  had  shed  their  blood  for 
his  cause,  and  they  intended  to  profit  by  his  return. 
Monsieur  de  Barante,  writing  on  May  16,  1814, 
says  :  "In  Vendee,  the  peasants,  I  do  not  know  why, 
will  not  pay  taxes,  and  imagine  that  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons  exempts  them  from  the  general  application 
of  the  laws."  '  It  was  partly  to  recompense  some  of  the 
Vendean  and  Chouan  nobility,  though  also  because,  in 
his  intense  love  for  ceremonial,  he  wished  to  revive  the 
1  Souvenirs  du  Baron  de  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  64. 

J5 


226  Louis  XVIII 

magnificent  etiquette  of  the  Ancien  Regime,  that  the 
King  established  not  only  his  "  Maison  Civile,"  with  its 
many  hereditary  posts,  "  Grand  Master,"  "  Grand 
Almoner,"  and  the  like,  but  also  his  "  Maison  Militaire," 
with  its  "  Bodyguard,"  whose  office  it  was  to  guard 
the  interior  of  the  Royal  residences,  and  to  accompany 
the  King  and  Princes  everywhere.  The  grades  of 
these  officers  did  not  answer  to  their  rank  in  the 
ordinary  Army  ;  they  were  a  privileged  body,  and  were 
chosen  mostly  from  amongst  poor  country  gentlemen. 
From  the  first  their  appointment  caused  bitter  in- 
dignation in  the  regular  Army,  and  there  was  a  fight 
in  the  streets  when  they  went  to  guard  the  posts 
hitherto  held  by  the  Garde  Nationale.  However,  it 
would  have  seemed  the  basest  ingratitude  and  heart- 
lessness,  for  the  King  to  show  no  recognition  of  the 
services  of  the  gallant  men  who  had  received  in- 
structions and  encouragement  from  him  in  fighting 
for  his  cause.  He  was  hampered  and  embarrassed  by 
his  past. 

On  the  other  hand,  even  if  he  had  shown  masterly 
inactivity  and  dignified  resignation  during  his  exile, 
he  would  nevertheless  have  been  compromised  by  his 
lineage,  and  all  those  who  had  fought  for  the  Bourbon 
cause  would  still  have  considered  that  he  owed  them 
a  debt  of  gratitude. 

As  it  was,  the  King  and  each  of  the  Ministers 
were  deluged  with  petitions  from  ambitious  Royalists, 
who  had  little  or  no  reason  on  which  to  base  their 
claim  except  the  fact  that  they  were  Royalists,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  Royal  bounty.  At  one  of  the  sittings 
of  the  Council,  the  Head  of  the  Admiralty  brought 
a  letter  for  consideration  which  he  had  received  from 
a  Royalist  who  had  been  a  naval  cadet  in   1789,  but 


Ultra'Royalist  Exigencies  227 

had  left  the  Service  because  of  the  Revolution,  an 
action  which,  he  remarked,  could  not  be  imputed  to 
him  as  a  crime,  and  he  calculated — not  allowing,  he 
pointed  out,  for  extraordinary  promotion — that,  had 
he  remained  in  the  Navy,  he  would  by  now  be  Rear- 
Admiral,  and  therefore  claimed  that  rank  from  his 
Majesty. 

The  King  appeared  to  be  annoyed  by  this  demand  ; 
and,  encouraged  by  the  Royal  attitude,  those  Ministers 
who  did  not  rejoice  in  pasts  of  unsullied  Royalist 
purity  showed  an  inclination  to  unkind  jesting — not 
to  say  bitterness — on  the  subject  of  ultra-Royalist 
pretensions. 

"  But  what  can  I  answer  ? "  asked  the  much  worried 
Head  of  the  Admiralty. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Sir,"  answered  Vitrolles,  who  tells 
the  story,  "  that  you  may  perfectly  allow  all  this 
gentleman's  logic,  and  even  the  consequences  he  has 
deduced  from  it,  while  adding  that  he  has  only  for- 
gotten one  essential  fact — that  he  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar  !  "  1 

Even  the  King  became  amused  at  the  extraordinary 
petitions  preferred  by  some  of  the  Emigres,  but  it 
was  only  after  the  lesson  taught  him  by  Napoleon's 
successful  return  to  France,  that  he  realised  the  great 
danger  their  unreasonable  ambitions  and  prejudices 
were  to  the  Monarchy.  When  Napoleon  announced 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Hundred  Days,  that  he  was 
in  reality  wresting  the  kingdom  from  the  Due 
d'Orleans  he  spoke  the  truth,  for  the  Government 
of  the  first  Restoration  was  so  weak,  and  showed  such 
ignorance  of  the  condition  and  feelings  of  the  country, 
that    it    could   not   possibly   have   lasted  ;    and   it   was 

1  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  ii.  p.  224. 


228  Louis  XVIII 

fortunate  for  the  Bourbon  cause  that  the  violent  in- 
terruption to  its  wavering  course  came  from  a  quarter 
where  it  could  not  be  tolerated  by  the  Great  Powers  ; 
for  if  France  had  in  disgust  turned  to  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  Europe  would  in  all  probability  have  ab- 
stained from  interference. 

Yet,  by  the  irony  of  fate,  Louis  XVIII  was  not 
loved  by  the  party  for  whom  he  seemed  to  be  on  the 
point  of  ruining  himself.  He  was  still  not  "  pure  in 
his  politics,"  still  the  "  greatest  Jacobin  in  Europe," 
and  the  Emigres  were  profoundly  dissatisfied  with  his 
policy.  At  the  Restoration  "  nothing  was  changed, 
renovated,  made,  or  unmade.  France  was  taken  as 
it  was,  ready-made  by  Napoleon,"  says  Frenilly,  true 
type  of  the  ultra-Royalist.  A  little  lower  on  the 
same  page  he  remarks  bitterly,  "  It  is  according  the 
King  full  justice  to  say  that  he  did  not  himself  wish 
to  change  anything  that  had  been  done  by  the  Re- 
volution, and  that  we  did  him  wrong  when  for  a  long 
time  we  persisted  in  the  idea  that  he  thought  with 
us,  though  his  actions  were  in  opposition  to  us."  1 
Therefore  Louis  XVIII — after  a  twenty-three  years' 
exile  from  his  country,  be  it  remembered — managed 
to  please  no  one. 

Certainly  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  one 
to  govern  the  nation  successfully,  and  to  satisfy  the 
ultra-Royalists.  For  one  thing  they  were  hardly 
Royalists  at  all,  if  Royalism  means  personal  devotion 
to  the  Sovereign.  Most  of  the  Emigres  who  had 
fought  in  Conde's  army  or  worked  for  a  living  in 
the  different  capitals  of  Europe,  had  long  ago  returned 
to  France,  and  a  new  generation  had  grown  up,  who 
kept  the  Royalist  feasts  and   commemoration   services 

1  Souvenirs  du  Baron  de  Frenilly,  p.  355. 


The  Irony  of  Fate  229 

devoutly,  and  had  heard  of  the  "  Orphan  of  the 
Temple,"  but  who  had  before  the  Restoration  the 
vaguest  ideas  about  Louis  XVI]  I  and  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  and  of  their  relationship  to  the  Due  d'An- 
gouleme  and  the  Due  de  Berry.  Therefore  a  feeling 
was  absent  which  might  have  rallied  them  to  the  help 
of  the  throne  in  its  difficult  struggle.  It  must  be 
allowed,  however,  that  the  sentiment  would  have  indeed 
been  strong,  which  could  have  caused  them  to  regard 
with  complacency  a  Government  which  did  not  at  once 
dispossess  the  aggressors  who  had  seized  their  property. 
The  ultra-Royalists  who  had  returned  to  France 
before  the  Restoration,  had  formed  that  stronghold  of 
aristocratic  tradition  and  Court  sentiment  known  as 
the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain,  which  is  in  reality  more 
an  institution  than  a  place  ;  for,  as  Balzac  says,  "  the 
whole  of  the  faubourg  is  not  in  the  faubourg.  Persons 
born  far  from  its  influence  feel  it,  and  affiliate  them- 
selves with  its  spirit,  while  others,  born  in  its  purple, 
are  by  nature  banished  from  it."  l  There  they  had 
lived  apart,  sighing  for  the  Restoration  of  the 
Monarchy.  It  took  place  ;  and  except  for  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  "  Maison  du  Roi,"  nothing  seemed 
to  be  altered.  It  was  indeed  a  terrible  disappointment 
to  discover  that  they  had  not  conquered  with  the  King ; 
that  while  he  had  come  again  into  his  rights  they 
were  still  excluded  from  theirs  ;  and  they  did  not  see 
that,  in  the  words  of  Balzac,  "  institutions  reach 
climacteric  years,  when  terms  no  longer  have  their 
past  meaning,  when  ideas  clothe  themselves  in  new 
garments,  when  the  conditions  of  political  life  change 
without  any  essential  change  in  their  being."  2  There- 
fore, after  battling  for  a  time  against  the  inevitable, 
1  Duchesse  de  Langeais.  '  Ibid, 


230  Louis  XVIII 

and  nearly  upsetting  the  throne  in  their  struggle,  they 
retired  from  the  strife,  soiled  their  delicate  fingers  no 
longer  with  political  affairs,  and,  refusing  to  do  their 
work  in  the  nation,  became  of  no  account. 

It  is  untrue,  however,  to  say  that  it  was  at  the 
time  of  the  Restoration  that  the  French  nobility,  of 
course  with  brilliant  exceptions,  cut  themselves  off 
from  national  life.  Louis  XIV  had  done  that  for 
them  when  he  made  it  their  duty  to  encircle  him  in 
the  great  artificial  system  of  Versailles,  to  which  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain  was  the  natural  sequence.  But 
power,  authority,  and  place  had  now  passed  from  a 
caste  to  nourish  the  life  of  a  great  nation,  from  which 
it  was  divided  by  so  wide  a  gulf,  that  a  high-born 
foreigner  was  more  in  sympathy  with  an  ultra- 
Royalist  of  the  upper  class,  than  was  a  bourgeois. 

The  hostility  felt  by  the  ultra-Royalists  to  their 
native  country,  which  refused  to  recognise  the  privi- 
leges to  which  they  considered  themselves  entitled, 
but  for  which  they  refused  to  pay  the  price  of  service, 
made  it  most  dangerous  for  the  King  to  show  any 
favouritism  towards  them  ;  and  the  situation  was 
rendered  intensely  difficult  by  the  fact  that  the  Comte 
d'Artois — whom  the  King  as  he  grew  older  found  it 
increasingly  difficult  to  withstand — tried  to  bring  them 
into  prominence  on  all  occasions. 

The  other  extreme  parties  in  the  State  were  prepared 
to  be  conciliatory.  Jacobinism,  which  had  been  stirred 
by  terror  and  indignation  at  the  idea  of  possible  reprisals 
on  the  part  of  the  Bourbon  Government,  to  a  condition 
in  which  it  would  have  been  quite  capable  of  repeating 
on  a  small  scale  the  atrocities  of  the  Terror,  had  now 
quieted  down,  and  hid  its  head,  ashamed  of  the  horror 
felt  for  its  late  excesses — a  horror  which  at  the  time 


Different  Parties  231 

of  the  Restoration,  when  the  great  upheaval  of  the 
Revolution  was  too  close  for  a  correct  perspective 
to  be  obtained,  blotted  out  all  conception  of  the 
benefits  it  had  conferred  on  the  nation. 

Imperialism,  at  any  rate  Imperialism  in  high  places, 
was  almost  servilely  anxious  to  conciliate  the  new 
Government ;  it  even  welcomed  it.  "  My  dear,  it 
is  only  now  that  I  feel  I  am  really  a  Countess !  " 
wrote  a  lady  whose  husband  had  been  ennobled  by 
Napoleon. 

However,  difficulties  soon  arose  between  the  new 
nobility  and  the  old,  and  members  of  the  latter  often 
prided  themselves  on  the  hauteur  with  which  they 
treated  Napoleon's  upstart  nobility.  Monsieur  de 
Poix  said  to  the  Prince  of  Neufchatel,  addressing 
him  as  Berthier,  "  Yet  as  the  result  of  the  Revo- 
lution, here  you  are,  as  great  a  person  as  myself !  "  l 
while  an  old  duke,  after  talking  for  a  long  time  to 
the  Marechal  Ney,  remarked  in  a  tone  of  caressing 
compassion,  "  What  a  pity  that  you  have  not,  like 
one  of  us,  what  can  never  be  given."  2 

The  caustic  Madame  de  Boigne  expresses  very  well 
the  feelings  of  the  great  ladies  of  the  Ancien  Regime 
when  she  says,  "  We  showed  great  affability  to  the 
ladies  of  the  Empire.  They  were  hurt  at  our  ad- 
vances in  a  place  where  they  were  accustomed  to  reign 
exclusively,  and  they  considered  us  impertinent.  As 
soon  as  they  felt  themselves  no  more  alone  they  con- 
sidered themselves  paramount,  an  excusable  impression. 
We  meant  very  well  ;  we  were  too  well  satisfied  not 
to  feel  sincerely  kind.  But  there  is  a  certain  ease, 
a  certain   freedom  in   the  manner  of  women  of  good 

1  Memoircs  de  Madame  de  Chastcnay,  vol.  ii.  p.  424. 

2  Viel  Castel  Restauration,  vol.  ii.  p.  95. 


232  Louis  XVIII 

society  which  gives  them  the  appearance  of  being  at 
home  everywhere,  and  of  doing  the  honours  wherever 
they  may  be.  Women  of  the  other  class  are  often 
shocked  at  this,  consequently  the  pettinesses  and  the 
little  jealousies  of  the  bourgeoises  were  stirred  be- 
neath the  jewels  which  adorned  their  breasts." 1 

The  ladies  of  the  Empire  may  have  been  unduly 
sensitive,  but  they  certainly  must  have  had  a  good 
deal  to  bear  ;  and  these  disagreeables  were  increased 
by  an  unfortunate  regulation  which  was  intended  to 
conciliate  the  great  nobles  of  the  Empire,  but  which 
raised  a  violent  storm  among  the  ladies  of  the  Ancien 
Regime.  The  King,  advised  by  the  Due  de  Duras, 
decreed  that  at  Royal  receptions  the  duchesses  were 
to  be  elevated  into  a  separate  caste,  and  were  to  pass 
on  at  once  to  the  brilliantly  lit  throne-room,  leaving 
the  other  ladies  in  the  semi-obscurity  of  the  Salon 
de  la  Paix.  "  The  faces  of  the  former  Court  ladies 
were  worth  seeing  each  time  that  one  of  the  fortunate 
women  of  the  new  regime  crossed  the  Salon  de  la 
Paix,  as  it  were,  over  their  bodies,"  2  says  Madame  de 
Boigne. 

In  the  throne-room,  the  King  went  the  round  of 
the  duchesses,  and  afterwards  stood  or  sat,  as  his 
health  allowed,  in  front  of  the  chimney-piece,  while 
the  other  ladies  passed  on  in  single  file,  and  each 
made  him  a  deep  curtsey.  To  one  out  of  about 
every  ten  he  said  two  or  three  sentences,  closing  the 
interview  with  a  slight  inclination  of  the  head,  to 
which  the  lady  addressed  replied  by  another  deep 
curtsey. 

Madame,  to  whom  the  stream  of  ladies  next  made 
their  way,  said  more  to  each  person,  and,  but  for  her 
1  Memoires  de  Madame  de  Boigne,  vol.  i.  p.  284.  *  Ibid. 


Royal  Receptions  233 

brusque  manner,  the  roughness  of  her  voice,  and  her 
lack  of  tact  and  grace,  she  might  have  become  a 
favourite.  The  Due  d'Angouleme,  whose  common 
exterior  militated  much  against  his  popularity,  received 
every  one  with  embarrassed  fussiness,  and  the  Due 
de  Berry  greeted  his  guests  with  the  utmost  cordiality 
and  good-humour,  though  with  a  total  absence  of 
dignity. 

The  Comte  d'Artois  and  his  younger  son  occupied 
the  part  of  the  Tuileries  known  as  the  Pavilion 
Marsan,  a  name  which,  owing  to  Monsieur's  policy, 
had  already  become  synonymous  with  reaction,  and 
with  ultra-Royalist  manoeuvring.  Monsieur  was  as 
perfectly  fitted  to  shine  at  Court  functions  as  he  had 
been  in  his  youth,  and  received  even  the  Imperialist 
ladies  with  charming  grace.  However,  his  mistakes 
outside  the  Court  and  in  the  sight  of  the  country  at 
large  were  flagrant.  For  instance,  he  caused  general 
indignation  and  alarm  among  the  moderate  constitu- 
tionals, who  now  formed  the  bulk  of  the  nation, 
by  refusing  when  travelling  to  be  served  at  Mass 
by  orthodox  priests  of  irreproachable  character,  if  they 
had  formerly  taken  the  oath  to  the  civil  constitution  of 
the  clergy. 

His  violent  policy  redounded  most  injuriously  upon 
Louis  XVIII,  whose  infirmities  did  not  allow  him  to 
become  known  by  the  people  generally  ;  and  the  fear 
of  priesthood  and  superstition  which  had  been  started 
by  Beugnot's  injudicious  ordinance  on  the  keeping  of 
Sunday,  was  increased  by  the  many  memorial  services 
with  processions  of  the  clergy  which  had  been  held 
for  different  members  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  for 
those  who  had  died  for  the  Bourbon  cause,  and  was 
exploited  by  some  of  Napoleon's  agents,  who  increased 


234  Louis  XVIII 

the  general  alarm  by  travelling  through  the  provinces 
in  the  garb  of  Trappist  monks.1 

Apparently  none  of  the  symptoms  of  disorder 
throughout  the  country  disturbed  Louis  XVIII's  com- 
posure. "  As  for  me,  it  would  be  possible  for  me 
not  to  enjoy  a  moment  of  repose,"  he  writes  on 
December  4,  18 14,  "and  yet  my  sleep  is  as  peaceful 
as  it  was  in  my  youth.  The  reason  of  this  is  simple  ; 
I  have  always  believed  that  once  the  first  moments  of 
the  Restoration  were  over,  the  mixture  of  so  many 
heterogeneous  elements  would  produce  fermentation. 
I  know  that  it  exists,  but  I  do  not  disturb  myself 
about  it."  2 

This  was  philosophy  indeed  ;  for  any  impartial  ob- 
server would  have  found  much  cause  for  alarm  in  the 
general  disaffection,  and  especially  in  the  discontented 
and  mutinous  condition  of  the  Army.  According  to 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  the  King  was  driven  from 
the  throne  because  he  never  had  the  real  command 
over  it,  and  therefore  "even  if  the  trivial  faults  or 
even  follies  of  his  civil  administration  had  not  been 
committed,  I  believe  the  same  results  would  have  been 
produced." 

The  establishment  of  the  military  "  Maison  du  Roi," 
in  which  each  soldier  was  an  officer,  the  infesting  of 
every  regiment  with  Emigres,  the  existence  of  "  privi- 
leged bodies,"  where  honours  were  showered  on  young 
men  who  had  just  left  school,  while  "  well-tried  and 
excellent  officers,  bent  with  the  weight  of  years,  and 
covered  with  honourable  scars,  vegetated  on  half  pay, 
unknown  and  almost  despised  by  the  new-comers";3 

1  Chastenay  Memotres,  vol.  ii.  p.  469. 

3  Correspondance  inedite  de  Louis  XVIII  et  de  Talleyrand. 

3  Souvenirs  du  Marechal  Macdonald,  p.  325. 


The  "Maison  du  Roi"  235 

these  and  other  foolish  measures  were  causing  intense 
indignation  among  the  tried  troops  who  had  fought 
for  Napoleon. 

While  doing  all  he  could  to  attach  the  Marshals  to 
the  Bourbon  cause,  Louis  XVIII  had  not  sufficiently 
realised  the  fact  that  the  soldier  had  now  become  a 
person  of  independent  opinions,  who  could  no  longer 
be  depended  on  to  obey  the  commands  of  his  superior 
officer  with  unquestioning  docility.  Napoleon's  policy 
had  been  that  of  raising  the  private  to  a  position  of 
prominence,  and  of  winning  his  affection  ;  and  in  his 
famous  Imperial  Guard,  while  the  officers  were  often 
changed,  and  were  never  people  who  would  be  likely 
to  be  strong  enough  to  be  dangerous,  the  soldiers 
were  caressed  and  flattered  ;  and  worshipped  "  le  Petit 
Caporal,"  who  was  their  comrade  as  well  as  their 
Emperor.  The  profuse  distribution  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  during  the  tours  made  by  the  Princes,  was 
a  grievous  mistake  ;  for  it  caused  the  most  bitter 
indignation  among  men  whose  most  precious  pos- 
session it  was,  and  who  had  gained  it  by  some  noble 
action  in  which  they  had  risked  their  lives. 

There  was  fury  in  military  circles,  when  the  Due 
de  Berry  gave  it  to  the  husband  of  some  one  with 
whom  he  had  danced  at  Lille,  merely  because  she 
asked  for  it.  Rightly  or  wrongly  it  was  supposed  that 
the  Bourbon  Princes  wished  to  degrade  the  decoration 
instituted  by  Napoleon,  as  well  as  the  holders  of  it. 

Besides  these  blunders  and  stupidities,  however, 
dissatisfaction  in  the  Army  was  caused  by  much  which 
it  was  completely  out  of  the  King's  power  to  rectify. 
France  was  no  longer  a  purely  military  State  ;  the  days 
of  conquest  were  over,  and  the  Army  had  therefore 
ceased  to  be  a  career  which  offered  a  perspective  of 


236  Louis  XVIII 

extraordinary  promotions,  honours,  and  wealth.  In 
Napoleon's  time  a  sanguinary  engagement  was  wel- 
comed as  offering  brilliant  prospects  to  the  survivors. 
"  They  did  not  kill  any  captains  ;  the  lieutenants  were 
not  pleased,"  1  said  a  young  officer  with  perfect  serious- 
ness when  giving  an  account  of  a  battle. 

Therefore,  numberless  castles  in  the  air  faded  to 
nothing  at  the  announcement  of  a  permanent  peace  ; 
and  hundreds  of  discontented,  and  sometimes  almost 
starving  men,  cursed  the  Bourbon  Government,  and 
longed  for  Napoleon.  The  official  letters  of  the  Head 
of  the  Police  are  full  of  disquieting  reports  about  the 
military  discontent,  reports,  however,  which  seem  to 
have  received  scant  attention  from  the  Government, 
who  no  doubt  felt  unequal  to  the  terribly  difficult 
problem  of  dealing  with  the  Army. 

At  Strasburg,  a  caricature  of  Napoleon  was  shown 
in  a  shop  with  an  account  of  his  crimes — this  was  an 
imprudence  which  was  often  committed.  An  officer 
rushed  in  and  cut  it  up  with  his  sword  ;  and  when 
next  day  Le  Retour  des  Lys  was  played  at  the 
theatre,  there  were  military  disturbances.  At  Saint- 
Etienne,  the  King's  bust  was  removed  to  be  surrounded 
with  the  arms  of  France,  and  great  joy  was  expressed 
at  the  hope  of  Napoleon's  return ;  and  the  officers  of 
a  garrison  sent  from  Paris  to  Dole  poured  imprecations 
on  a  portrait  of  the  King.  Such  were  the  warnings 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Everywhere  were 
"  outbursts  of  vague  and  impotent  discontent,  the 
language  of  boredom  and  of  bad  temper."  2 

Unfortunately  these  outbursts  were  not  long  to 
remain  impotent  expressions  of  feeling,  for  the  master 

1  Memoires  de  Madame  de  Chastenay,  vol.  ii.  p.  391. 

2  Rapports  die  Cotnte  Angles,  p.  46. 


Military  Disturbances  237 

hand  would  soon  apply  a  torch  to  the  combustible 
matter,  which  was,  however,  almost  ready  to  ignite 
by  itself.  The  Duke  of  Wellington,  now  English 
Ambassador  in  France,  wrote  to  his  Government  that 
each  night  he  expected  a  catastrophe  ;  and  the  most 
alarming  reports  were  in  circulation.  One  of  these 
was  to  the  effect  that  on  the  way  to  a  performance 
at  the  Odeon,  the  King  and  all  the  Princes  were  to 
be  carried  off  by  some  of  the  generals.  The  Marechal 
Marmont,  with  two  other  generals  and  Monsieur 
Beugnot,  went  to  warn  Louis  XVIII  of  this,  and  to  beg 
him  not  to  leave  the  Palace.  "  The  King,  however, 
with  the  calmness  which  gave  such  a  beautiful  character 
to  his  noble  physiognomy,  told  them  that  nothing 
should  prevent  him  from  appearing  at  the  theatre  as 
had  been  announced  ;  that  he  had  for  too  long  been 
ready  to  sacrifice  his  life  to  be  made  anxious,  and  that 
he  confided  to  their  devotion  and  prudence  the  pre- 
cautions which  the  news  would  require."  1 

Nothing  happened  ;  and  the  King  listened  to  the 
performance  with  every  appearance  of  interest,  though 
he  occasionally  directed  a  glance  of  smiling  intelligence 
towards  his  niece,  who  at  first  looked  troubled,  but 
began  later  to  gain  confidence  from  her  Uncle's 
equanimity. 

Louis  XVIII  had  not  been  a  year  on  the  throne,  and 
already  his  enemies  were  busily  at  work.  Scurrilous 
pamphlets,  one  of  which  connected  his  name  with  that 
of  Robespierre,  and  accused  him  of  instigating  the 
worst  excesses  of  the  Revolution,  even  of  contriving 
the  executions  of  Louis  XVI,  Marie  Antoinette,  and 
Madame  Elizabeth,  were  in  secret  circulation. 

Fouche,  the  Due  d'Otrante,  had  quicky  seen  which 

1  Chastenay  Memoires,  p.  422. 


238  Louis  XVIII 

way  the  wind  was  blowing  ;  and  though  he  was  trying 
as  usual  to  keep  on  friendly  terms  with  all  the  con- 
tending parties,  he  was  preparing  if  necessary  to  leave 
the  sinking  ship,  and  was  plotting  for  the  downfall 
of  the  Bourbons. 

On  one  thing  only  could  the  King  rightly  con- 
gratulate himself:  his  foreign  policy  was  thoroughly 
successful.  On  his  first  arrival  at  Vienna  for  the  Con- 
gress of  the  European  nations,  Talleyrand  had  found 
great  difficulties  in  his  way,  as  the  four  Great  Powers — 
England,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia — wished  to 
designate  themselves  the  Allies,  and  to  discuss,  with- 
out consulting  France,  the  question  of  the  nationality 
of  the  various  territories  which  had  been  taken  from 
her  at  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Talleyrand's  diplomacy  at 
Vienna  showed  the  utmost  skill  ;  but  probably  suffi- 
cient credit  has  not  been  given  to  Louis  XVI 1 1  for 
the  firmness  with  which  he  supported  his  Minister 
in  his  policy,  and  for  the  determination  with  which  he 
insisted  that  France  must  not  submit  to  humiliation. 
Though  he  was  a  man  of  peace,  who  knew  nothing  of 
military  matters,  he  was  quite  prepared  to  fight  with 
the  object  of  keeping  up  the  national  prestige  ;  indeed, 
in  spite  of  his  apparent  equanimity  about  the  internal 
condition  of  France,  he  may  possibly  have  felt  that 
war  would  be  the  only  condition  which  would  weld 
the  discordant  elements  into  unity. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Talleyrand  on  October  21st, 
1 8 1 4,  after  remarking  that  the  Allies  wish  to  avenge 
themselves  on  France  for  what  they  have  suffered  from 
Napoleon,  that  he  will  never  permit  this,  and  will 
adopt  the  plan  suggested  by  Talleyrand,  of  a  Declaration 
to  the  effect  that  the  Congress  must  include  France, 


His  Foreign  Policy  239 

he  continues  :  "  But  this  is  not  all  ;  we  must  show 
that  there  is  something  behind  ;  and  for  this  it  seems 
to  me  necessary  to  make  preparations  to  put  the  Army 
on  a  more  considerable  footing  than  it  is  on  now."  ! 
Elsewhere  he  states  :  "  I  am  determined  above  every- 
thing to  keep  the  honour  of  France  intact.  ...  I  wish 
also  (and  this  is  no  less  necessary)  to  have  my  personal 
character  respected.  .  .  .  My  life,  my  crown,  are 
nothing  to  me  beside  such  great  interests.2 

The  King  was  firm,  too,  in  his  protection  of  Saxony 
and  of  the  Bourbons  in  Italy,  as  well  as  in  his  objection 
to  a  Russian  alliance,  an  objection  which  may  have 
been  partly  caused  by  the  personal  aversion  he  un- 
doubtedly felt  for  the  Emperor  Alexander. 

Eventually  Talleyrand  not  only  insisted  on  including 
France  in  the  Congress,  but  as  her  representative 
became  the  preponderating  member  of  it  ;  and  in 
defiance  of  French  national  feeling,  which  always 
inclined  to  friendship  with  Russia,  a  secret  alliance 
was  formed  between  France,  Austria,  and  England. 
Therefore,  during  the  first  days  of  the  Restoration,  after 
France  had  been  completely  beaten  in  the  Napoleonic 
Wars,  and  when  her  home  Government  was  weak  and 
without  proper  consistency,  her  reputation  and  influ- 
ence in  the  Councils  of  Europe  were  as  great  as  they 
had  been  in  her  most  palmy  days.  Much  of  this 
ascendancy  was  no  doubt  owing  to  M.  de  Talleyrand's 
skill,  but  no  one  can,  I  think,  read  Louis  XVIIl's 
letters  to  his  Minister,  without  being  struck  by  the 
fact  that  his  sagacity  and  firmness  counted  for  a  good 
deal  in  the  diplomatic  triumphs  of  France  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna. 

1  CotTespondance  de  Talleyrand  et  de  Louis  XVIII,  p.  71. 

1  Ibid.,  p.  83. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

News  of  Napoleon's  landing  arrives  in  France — Preparations  for  de- 
fence— The  Due  d'Orleans — The  King's  attitude— Ney's  defection — 
Blacas — Contradictory  suggestions — Last  efforts  at  rousing  loyalty 
— King's  flight  from  Paris — The  Due  and  Duchesse  d'Angouleme — 
King's  journey :  Abbeville,  St. -Pol,  Bethune,  Lille — Failure  of  the 
troops  of  the  Maison  du  Roi — Disaffection  of  the  Army — Lyons — 
Ghent — Life  there— The  King's  Ministers — the  King's  attitude — 
Monsieur's  attitude — Attitude  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna — Advice  to 
the  King  from  the  Due  d'Orleans,  from  Talleyrand,  and  from  Guizot. 

ON  March  5th,  181 5,  while  the  Baron  de  Vitrolles 
was  interviewing  General  Beurnonville  in  his 
private  room,  he  was  told  that  Monsieur  Chappe,  the 
Director  of  the  Telegraph  Department  of  the  Post 
Office,  wished  to  speak  to  him  at  once.  Chappe  was 
admitted  ;  and  entered  hot,  out  of  breath,  and  evi- 
dently in  a  great  state  of  excitement,  with  a  sealed 
telegram  in  his  hand.  The  General  retired  out  of 
hearing,  and,  in  the  words  of  Vitrolles  : * 

"  I  looked  for  you  in  your  bureau  at  the  Tuileries," 
said  Chappe  to  me  in  a  low  voice  ;  "  and,  not  finding 
you  there,  I  wanted  to  give  this  telegram  at  once  to 
the  King,  but  I  was  sent  to  you." 

"  Of  course,"  I  answered.  "  Is  not  that  always 
done  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  certainly  !  But  this  is  of  such  pressing 
importance." 

"  But  what  news  does  it  contain  ?  " 

1  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  ii.  p.  283. 

240 


News  of  Napoleon's  Landing  241 

He  remembered  suddenly  that  he  ought  not  to 
know,  and  that  only  the  transcriber  should  be  let 
into  the  secret. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  said  ;  "  but  the  transcriber 
told  me  that  it  was  most  important." 

Vitrolles  wondered  whether  some  accident  had 
happened  to  the  Due  and  Duchesse  d'Angouleme 
in  their  journey  to  Bordeaux  ;  and  as  the  news 
contained  in  the  telegram  was  not  likely  to  be  agree- 
able, he  decided  that  he  would  hand  it  unopened  to 
the  King. 

"  I  went  at  once,"  says  Vitrolles.  "  Going  in  to  the 
King  I  told  him  that  Chappe's  excitement,  and  the 
importance  he  seemed  to  attach  to  this  telegram,  had 
made  me  think  that  I  had  better  leave  the  King  to 
open  it.  The  gout,  at  this  time,  had  crippled  his 
hands  rather  badly  ;  he  tore  apart  the  seal  awkwardly, 
and  taking  hold  as  best  he  could  of  the  telegram  in 
its  envelope,  he  held  it  out  for  me  to  draw  the  envelope 
away  from  it.  I  turned  slowly  to  throw  the  paper  into 
the  fireplace  behind  me ;  then,  standing  again  behind 
the  table  and  opposite  the  King,  I  waited  during  the 
time  that  it  took  him  to  read  the  two  or  three  lines 
which  composed  it.  He  remained  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  the  paper  much  longer  than  was  necessary  for 
reading  it  ;  then  he  threw  it  on  the  table. 

"  You  do  not  know  what  it  contains  ?  "  he  said. 

"  No,  Sire,  I  do  not  know." 

"  It  is  to  say,"  he  answered  in  a  voice  which  had  not 
altered,  u  that  Bonaparte  has  landed  on  the  coast  of 
Provence." 

Thus  arrived  the  great  news  of  Napoleon's  desperate 
attempt  to  reseat  himself  on  the  throne  of  France.  It 
was   necessary   that    measures    for    defence    should    be 

16 


242  Louis  XVIII 

taken  at  once,  and  it  was  therefore  settled  that  Mon- 
sieur should  start  the  next  day  for  Lyons,  where, 
seconded  by  Marechal  Macdonald  and  accompanied  by 
the  Due  d'Orleans,  he  should  march  towards  the 
enemy  ;  meanwhile  the  Due  d'Angouleme  was  to 
assemble  troops  in  Languedoc,  and  the  Due  de  Berry 
would  take  command  of  the  garrisons  of  Lorraine  and 
of  Alsace,  so  that  Monsieur  would  be  supported  both 
on  the  right  and  on  the  left. 

Whether  or  no  the  King  knew  of  the  plot  formed 
by  Fouche,  by  which,  after  having  been  asked  to  sub- 
scribe to  certain  conditions  which  it  was  thought  he 
must  certainly  refuse,  he  and  his  family  were  to  be 
turned  out  of  Paris  and  the  Due  d'Orleans  made  King 
in  his  stead,  he  was  sagacious  enough  to  realise  that 
the  Orleans  danger  was  almost  more  serious  to  the 
elder  branch  of  the  Bourbon  Family,  than  was  Napoleon's 
attempt  to  reinstate  himself  as  Master  of  France.  He 
was,  therefore,  determined  to  keep  his  cousin  under 
supervision,  and  in  at  least  apparent  unity  with  his 
own  cause  ;  and  he  sent  Blacas  to  him  at  eleven  o'clock 
that  night.  The  Due  d'Orleans  was  in  the  drawing- 
room,  but  came  out  to  the  antechamber  to  speak  to 
the  King's  messenger,  who  said  mysteriously  and  in  a 
low  voice  : 

"  The  King  wishes  to  see  Monseigneur  at  once." 

"  I  will  put  on  my  uniform  and  go  to  the  King," 
answered  the  Duke. 

"  No,"  said  Blacas,  "  that  is  not  necessary.  The 
King  wants  to  see  you  just  as  you  are ;  and  if  you 
will  allow  it,  I  am  to  have  the  honour  of  taking  you 
in  my  carriage." 

"  What !  '  cried  the  Duke,  "  a  frock  coat  at  the 
Tuileries  !     That  will  indeed  cause  gossip  in  Paris." 


The  Due  d'Orleans  243 

"  That  does  not  matter,"  answered  Blacas.1 

The  emergency  was  indeed  serious  which  would 
cause  Louis  XVIII  to  permit  so  grave  a  breach  of 
etiquette.  The  King  received  the  Duke  with  his 
usual  calmness,  and  made  little  of  the  danger  ;  but 
the  future  Louis  Philippe  felt  a  strong  dislike  to 
acting  under  the  leadership  of  the  incapable  Monsieur. 

"  I  think,"  he  objected,  "  that  I  should  be  more 
useful  to  your  Majesty  if  1  were  to  occupy  myself 
in  raising  a  body  of  troops  between  Paris  and  Lyons, 
in  case  of  an  emergency." 

"  Not  at  all,"  answered  the  King,  interrupting  him 
rather  drily.  "  You  will  be  much  more  useful  with 
my  brother,  who  will  give  you  a  division,  or  a  body 
of  troops  to  command — at  any  rate,  something  ;  what- 
ever he  likes." 

"And  your  Majesty  is  not  nervous  at  being  left 
alone  at  Paris  ?  For,  in  your  present  state,  not  able 
to  move  from  this  armchair,  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
would  be  very  desirable  for  you  to  have  one  of  the 
Princes  near  you,  and  I  should  be  very  happy  if  you 
would  deign  to  allow  me  the  post." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  the  King  ; 
"  but  I  do  not  require  anybody,  and  it  will  be  better 
for  you  to  go  to  Lyons.  I  do  not  say  that  you  will 
start  to-day  ;  but  get  ready,  and  come  again  to  see 
me  to-morrow  morning."  2 

However,  next  day  the  Duke  learnt,  to  his  intense 
relief,  that  he  was  not  to  go  alone  with  Monsieur,  but 
that  Marechal  Macdonald  was  to  accompany  them  ; 
though  he  was  indignant  at  hearing  that  he  was  not  to 
be  allowed  a  Marshal  in  attendance  on  him,  as  were 

1  Journal  de  Louis  Philippe  (1815),  p.  3. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  8. 


244  Louis  XVIII 

all  the  other  Princes ;  in  fact,  that  he  was,  as  he 
expressed  the  matter  sarcastically,  to  go  merely  as 
Monsieur's  aide-de-camp. 

"  Oh,  surely  not,"  said  Blacas.  "  Monsieur  will 
employ   Monseigneur  in  a  suitable  manner." 

"  But  how  do  you  expect  him  to  employ  me,  my 
dear  Count,  when  there  are  no  troops  ? " l  cried  the 
Duke  impatiently. 

The  Moniteur  of  March  7,  which  announced  the 
departure  of  Monsieur  and  of  his  unwilling  kinsman, 
convoked  the  Chambers  at  once  ;  while  a  Royal  Order 
declared  "  Napoleon  Bonaparte  to  be  a  traitor  and  a 
rebel,"  and  threatened  those  who  attached  themselves 
to  his  standard,  or  did  not  oppose  his  progress,  with 
condign  punishment  as  privy  to  his  rebellion. 

Two  days  later  the  King  from  his  balcony  saw  the 
garrison  and  the  National  Guard  of  Paris  pass  in  review 
before  him.  He  was  apparently  calm  and  confident. 
"I  have  at  once  taken  the  measures  which  I  judge 
best  adapted  to  make  him  [Napoleon]  repent,  and  I 
count  with  confidence  on  their  success," 2  he  wrote 
to  Talleyrand  on  March  7th.  Possibly  this  equanimity 
was  in  part  assumed  ;  as,  while  Napoleon  marched 
triumphantly  through  the  country  and  regiment  after 
regiment  deserted  to  him,  the  newspapers — among 
them  the  King's  official  organ,  the  Moniteur — 
invented  stories  of  the  irritation  felt  against  him  by 
the  populace,  and  of  the  ill-success  of  his  enterprise. 
"  The  Brigand  of  the  Island  of  Elba,"  "  The  Corsican 
Ogre,"  "The  Cowardly  Assassin  of  the  Due  d'Enghien," 
such  were  some  of  the  epithets  used  to  describe  the 
man    on    whom    a    short    time    earlier    the    press    had 

1  Journal  de  Louis  Philippe,  p.  15. 

2  Correspondance  inedite  de  Talleyrand  et  de  Louis  XVIII,  p.  316. 


Ney's  Defection  245 

showered  the  most  fulsome  praise;  while  the  Muni- 
cipal Council  of  Paris  declared  itself  ready  "  to  perish 
at  the  foot  of  the  throne  to  defend  its  King,  at  the  feet 
of  Louis  le  Desire  to  defend  its  Father." 

The  moderate  Constitutional  party,  which  formed 
the  bulk  of  the  nation,  were  in  truth  much  dismayed 
by  Napoleon's  incursion  ;  for  though  discontented  with 
the  Bourbon  Government,  which  one  of  them  termed 
a  "  fatherly  anarchy,"  they  had  no  desire  to  return  to 
the  military  despotism  of  Napoleon. 

However,  Napoleon's  strength  was  irresistible,  and 
Monsieur  and  the  Due  d'Orleans  were  obliged  by 
the  defection  of  their  troops  to  leave  Lyons  in  a 
hurry,  when  the  town  was  at  once  occupied  by  the 
invader,  who  issued  from  there  decrees  annulling 
all  that  had  been  done  since  Louis  XVI II  had  come 
to  the  throne.  In  vain  did  the  King  publish  proclama- 
tion after  proclamation  to  the  nation  and  to  the  Army, 
at  first  couched  in  grandiose  terms,  at  last  almost 
imploring. 

Soon  tidings  arrived  of  a  terrible  misfortune.  The 
Marechal  Ney,  who  had  gone  into  Franche-Comte 
to  meet  Napoleon,  promising  the  King  that  he  would 
bring  him  back  in  an  iron  cage,  deserted  to  his  former 
master.  News  of  his  defection  was  brought  to  the  King 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  by  Monsieur  de  Bour- 
mont,  who  had  great  difficulty  in  penetrating  to  Louis 
XVIII  at  this  early  hour.  On  hearing  it,  the  King,  who, 
as  we  know,  very  seldom  showed  any  emotion,  seemed 
confounded,  and  for  the  time  lost  courage.  It  was 
only  five  days  earlier  that  he  had  seen  Ney  almost 
kneeling  before  him,  while  he  swore  allegiance  to  the 
Bourbon  cause,  and  protested  his  zeal  in  the  most 
moving   terms.      The    King  begged  Bourmont  to  be 


246  Louis  XVIII 

most  careful  to  keep  the  news  of  Ney's  treachery  a 
secret  as  long  as  possible.1 

This  was  a  most  necessary  precaution,  for  Paris 
was  distracted  and  in  the  utmost  confusion,  while 
the  most  contrary,  and  often  the  most  extraordinary 
plans,  were  proposed,  discussed,  and  dismissed.  Sus- 
picions of  the  wildest  nature  were  in  circulation ; 
nothing  seemed  impossible  in  this  strangely  disturbed 
time  ;  and  the  Marechal  Soult,  Minister  for  War,  and 
Dandre,  Head  of  the  Police,  were  both  accused  of 
treachery.  Strange  to  relate,  Monsieur  and  the  ultra- 
Royalists  had  fixed  their  hopes  on  the  regicide  and 
traitorous  Fouche,  Due  d'Otrante  ;  and  they  approached 
him  with  a  view  to  obtaining  his  opinion,  and  possibly 
his  support.  He  is  said  to  have  answered  :  "  Save  the 
King,  and  I  will  save  the  Monarchy."  It  was  already 
apparent  that  Louis  XVIII  would  be  forced  to  leave 
Paris,  and  many  and  tumultuous  were  the  Councils 
which  were  held  in  Blacas'  room  at  the  Tuileries.  He, 
tall,  cold,  and  impassible,  was  generally  the  intermediary 
between  the  King — who  was  still  laid  up  with  gout, 
which  always  began  with  an  attack  of  fever — and  the 
outside  world  ;  and  was  detested  by  every  one.  One  of 
his  enemies  writes  of  his  "  great  reserve,  which  showed 
itself  in  insupportable  arrogance,  his  tall  figure,  long 
in  the  body  and  short  in  the  legs,  the  regular,  cold, 
dried-up  features  of  his  pallid  face,  which  was  never 
unwrinkled,  his  head  totally  bald  and  covered  by  too 
fair  a  wig."  2 

He  seems  to  have  been  honest  and  upright,  though 
not  very  able  ;  and  he  was  sincerely  attached  to  the 
King,  and  anxious  to  follow  in  the  course  marked  out 

1  Souvenirs  dn  Baron  de  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  107. 

2  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  ii.  p.  203. 


Blacas  247 

for  him  by  his  friend  d'Avaray,  but  he  found  himself 
in  an  impossible,  even  a  ridiculous  position.  The  post 
of  Royal  favourite  had  been  almost  out  of  date  in 
Louis  XIV's  time,  and  a  constitutional  monarch 
with  such  an  appendage  was  an  impossibility.  How- 
ever, for  the  present  Blacas  struggled  with  the  task 
imposed  upon  him,  while  his  unfortunate  manner  em- 
bittered relations  between  him  and  the  outside  world, 
even  more  than  was  necessitated  by  the  anomaly  of  his 
post  as  Louis  XVIII' s  unofficial  confidential  adviser  on 
every  subject. 

Many  and  contradictory  were  the  suggestions  which 
besieged  his  ears  as  to  the  proper  course  for  the  King 
to  follow,  in  the  now  almost  certain  case  that  Napoleon 
would  enter  Paris.  Vitrolles  wished  Louis  XVIII  to 
retire  to  La  Rochelle,  where  he  would  be  surrounded 
by  the  faithful  Royalists  of  Bretagne  and  of  La 
Vendee  ;  while  Montesquiou  objected  that  the  King 
would  thus  identify  himself  completely  with  the 
ultra-Royalist  party,  and  institute  himself  King  of 
La  Vendee  instead  of  King  of  France.  The  Marechal 
de  Marmont,  on  the  other  hand,  considered  that  Louis 
XVIII  should  not  leave  Paris,  but  should  fortify  the 
Tuileries  and  remain  there ;  while  Blacas'  contribu- 
tion to  the  various  views  expressed  by  different 
members  of  the  Council,  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
King  should  wait  quietly  for  the  arrival  of  the  Emperor, 
and  that  when  he  heard  that  his  enemy  was  within  a 
few  miles  from  Paris,  he  should  drive  out  to  meet  him 
in  an  open  carriage,  accompanied  by  Blacas,  his  First 
Gentleman  of  the  Chamber,  and  his  Captain  of  the 
Guards,  and  surrounded  by  the  members  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  on  horseback.  It  was  evidently 
expected  by  Blacas  that  Napoleon  would  be  so  much 


248  Louis  XVIII 

impressed    by    this  imposing  spectacle   that   he  would 
return  abashed  and  confounded  to  the  island  of  Elba  ! 

An  intelligent  passivity  appears  to  have  been 
Louis  XVI II  's  role  at  this  time  ;  he  listened  to  every 
one,  and  generally  gave  but  little  sign  of  approval  or  of 
disapproval  as  the  different  projects  were  submitted  to 
him.  "  This  impassibility  seemed  to  him  one  of  the 
principal  attributes  of  Royalty,"  l  says  Vitrolles.  How- 
ever this  may  have  been,  it  was  a  most  useful  asset 
politically,  and  stood  the  King  in  better  stead  than  the 
utmost  activity  would  have  done,  unless  directed  by 
the  brain  of  a  genius.  It  is  amusing  to  read  how  the 
lively,  intriguing  Vitrolles,  whom  the  King  appears  to 
have  liked,  and  to  whom  he  certainly  owed  a  debt  of 
gratitude,  was  foiled  when  he  advised  courses  which 
would  certainly  have  brought  about  a  civil  war  in 
France.  This  was  done,  not  by  open  opposition,  but 
by  a  prudence  which  did  not  reveal  anything  better 
left  unsaid  ;  and  by  which  the  King,  while  never 
apparently  opposing  any  measure  proposed,  and  thus 
becoming  cognisant  of  all,  only  answered  Vitrolles' 
pressing  instances  for  help  in  some  measure  to  which 
he  himself  seemed  favourable,  "  with  a  smile  and  a 
caressing  look."  To  quote  from  Vitrolles  :  "  '  You  will 
arrange  it  beautifully,'  he  said  to  me."  Whereas,  as 
he  no  doubt  knew  very  well,  and  as  Vitrolles  felt 
indignantly,  one  word  from  him  to  his  Minister 
would  have  arranged  the  matter  once  for  all. 

In  deference  to  the  popular  clamour,  the  King 
accepted  Soult's  resignation  as  Minister  for  War,  and 
put  the  Due  de  Feltre  in  his  place,  though  he  told 
Soult  that  he  felt  perfectly  confident  of  his  loyalty, 
and    knew    that    his    sword    would    never    be    drawn 

1  Metnoires  dn  Baron  de  Vitrolles^  vol.  iii.  p.  161. 


Napoleon  Approaches  Paris  249 

except  in  the  Royal  cause — a  prophecy  which  was 
unfortunately  incorrect. 

Meanwhile,  Napoleon  was  drawing  ever  closer  to 
Paris,  and  it  was  noticed  that  the  King  began  to 
show  signs  of  anxiety  and  trouble,  that  his  eyes  were 
sometimes  red,  and  he  looked  as  though  the  blood  had 
gone  to  his  head.  This  agitation  only  lasted  a  few  days, 
and  he  then  recovered  his  serenity,  and  seemed  resolved 
to  bear  with  equanimity  whatever  fate  might  have  in 
store  for  him. 

Matters,  indeed,  seemed  almost  desperate,  and,  in 
a  last  attempt  to  rouse  the  nation's  loyalty,  a  Royal 
seance  was  held,  to  which  both  Chambers  were  sum- 
moned, as  well  as  the  Staffs  of  the  1st  Military 
Division  and  of  the  National  Guard.  Brandy  had 
been  distributed  among  the  troops  lining  the  streets 
from  the  Tuileries  to  the  Palais-Bourbon,  but  they 
allowed  the  King  to  pass  in  almost  total  silence. 

He  was  wearing  for  the  first  time  the  medal  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour,  and  pointed  this  out  to  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  who  accompanied  him. 

"  Do  you  see  this,  Sir  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,  Sire,"  answered  the  Due  d'Orleans  :  "  I  see  it 
with  pleasure.  It  is  true  that  I  should  have  liked  to 
see  it  sooner  ;  but,  at  any  rate,  Sire,  c  mieux  vaut  tard 
que  jamais.'  "  1 

In  the  Palais  de  Bourbon  the  King  spoke  with  his 
usual  eloquence,  saying  that  he  had  come  to  tighten  the 
bonds  existing  between  him  and  his  people,  whom  he 
had  reconciled  with  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  for  whose 
happiness  he  had  worked  in  the  past,  and  still  continued 
to  work.  "  Could  I  at  sixty  years  of  age  finish  my 
career  better  than  in  dying  for  my  people  ?  "  he  said  ; 

1  Journal  tie  Louis  Philippe  (1815),  p.  127. 


2  so  Louis  XVIII 

"  I  do  not  fear  anything  for  myself,  but  I  fear  for 
France.  The  man  who  comes  to  light  among  us  the 
torch  of  civil  war  brings  also  the  scourge  of  foreign 
war  ;  he  comes  indeed  to  destroy  the  Constitutional 
Charter  which  I  have  given  you,  my  finest  title  in  the 
eyes  of  posterity  ;  that  Charter  which  is  cherished  by 
all  Frenchmen,  and  which  I  here  swear  to  maintain." 

The  King's  oration  was  received  with  much  applause, 
and  every  one  promised  to  be  faithful  to  him  till  death, 
while  in  the  midst  of  the  tumult  Monsieur  came 
forward  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  King,  and  to  the 
Constitutional  Charter,  and  the  two  brothers  embraced 
amidst  general  emotion. 

However,  it  was  evident  that  the  end  was  very  near, 
and  many  anxious  discussions  were  held  as  to  the  way 
in  which  the  King's  escape  should  be  most  safely 
managed.  The  King  laughed  heartily  when,  on  the 
idea  being  mooted  that  he  should  go  in  a  chaise  a 
porteur  to  a  hackney  coach,  and  thence  to  his  travelling 
carriage,  which  was  to  wait  in  some  distant  part  of 
Paris,  or  even  outside  it,  the  Due  de  Berry  objected : 
"  But  where  will  you  find  a  chaise  a  porteur  big 
enough,  and  two  men  strong  enough,  to  carry  the 
King  ?  "  l 

As  the  Emperor  approached  Paris,  the  army  at 
Fontainebleau  began  to  desert  ;  and  it  was  apparent 
that  unless  the  King  wished  to  become  a  prisoner,  he 
must  at  once  fly.  Therefore,  on  the  night  of  March 
19th,  1  815,  Louis  XVIII  walked  painfully  out  of  the 
Tuileries,  supported  by  Blacas  and  by  the  Due  de 
Duras.  He  had  been  most  anxious  to  remain  in 
Paris,  but  had  at  last  yielded  to  reiterated  advice  ; 
that  of  the  Due  d'Orleans  taking  the  form  of  telling 
1  Souvenirs  du  Marechal  Macdonald,  p.  365. 


His  Flight  from  Paris  251 

him  that  a  bon-mot  was  in  circulation,  to  the  effect  that 
if,  as  reported,  the  King's  intentions  were  to  remain 
in  his  armchair  when  Napoleon  entered  Paris,  "  the 
victim  would  be  greater  than  the  executioner." l 
Such  was  the  popular  reputation  of  the  murderer  of 
the  Due  d'Enghien. 

As  the  King  went  out  of  the  Tuileries,  he  whis- 
pered to  Jaucourt,  who  was  acting  as  Foreign  Minister 
during  Talleyrand's  absence  at  Vienna,  "  Inform  my 
Ministers  that  I  am  going  to  Lille,  and  that  I  wish 
them  to  assemble  there.  Tell  the  Ambassadors  that  I 
shall  be  charmed  to  see  them  at  Lille  ;  but  that  it  is 
quite  allowable  for  them  to  go  to  their  respective 
Courts,  should  they  prefer  to  do  so."2 

In  making  the  North  of  France  his  destination,  the 
King  was  following  Talleyrand's  advice  from  Vienna, 
where  the  Congress  was  still  sitting  ;  while  Lille  was 
especially  recommended  by  Marechal  Macdonald,  as  a 
town  whose  loyalty  was  likely  to  remain  unshaken. 
The  start  from  the  Tuileries  was  made  at  midnight,  in 
pouring  rain,  and  Blacas  was  in  so  great  a  hurry,  that 
to  Talleyrand's  horror  he  left  behind  him  some  impor- 
tant and  compromising  papers.  Blacas  did  not  on  this 
emergency  cover  himself  with  glory,  as  he  failed  to 
make  arrangements  for  providing  the  King  with  money 
on  the  journey,  so  that,  as  Jaucourt  remarked  indig- 
nantly, the  fugitives  were  "  without  a  penny,"  and  he 
added  that  he  could  fill  ten  pages  on  the  subject  of 
Morsieur  de  Blacas'  follies  ! 

The  King  had  not  departed  sooner  than  was  abso- 
lutely necessary,  for  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  Napoleon 
entered    Paris   and   took   possession    of   the    Tuileries, 

1  Journal  de  Louis  Philippe  (1815),  p.  114. 

3  Currespondance  incdite  de  Talleyrand  et  de  Louis  XVIII,  p.  360. 


25 2  Louis  XVIII 

which  had  been  vacated  by  the  King  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours  earlier.  Since  his  landing  near  Cannes 
on  March  ist,  it  had  taken  Napoleon  just  under  three 
weeks  to  make  his  way  to  the  capital  of  the  country  ; 
and  he  had  fought  no  battles,  and  encountered  no 
serious  opposition  on  the  way.  Even  in  Bordeaux — 
only  a  year  ago  so  loyal  to  the  Bourbons — the  army 
had  deserted  to  the  enemy  ;  and  Madame,  who  had 
bravely  interviewed  the  soldiers  in  their  barracks,  and 
had  earned  from  Napoleon  the  commendation  of  being 
"  the  only  man  of  her  family,"  renounced  her  vain 
attempt  to  rally  the  troops  to  the  Bourbon  cause,  and 
retired  discomfited  and  disappointed  to  England. 

The  Due  d'Angouleme  was,  however,  doing  his  best 
to  show  that  Napoleon's  contempt  of  his  family  was 
unmerited  ;  for  he  was  fighting  bravely  in  the  centre  of 
France,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  possession  of  Lyons. 
Eventually  he  too  was  obliged  to  retreat  ;  and,  to  the 
intense  anxiety  of  the  Royalists,  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Napoleon,  who,  however,  sent  him  to  the  port  of  Cette, 
whence  he  embarked  for  Spain. 

Meanwhile,  the  King  arrived  at  Abbeville,  where 
nothing  had  been  arranged  for  his  reception,  but  where 
he  had  determined  to  wait  for  Monsieur  and  for  his 
Household  Troops.  This  privileged  body,  however, 
being  mainly  ornamental  and  not  adapted  for  emergen- 
cies, was  in  much  confusion ;  and  Marechal  Macdonald 
met  them  on  their  way,  some  leading  their  horses,  some 
in  carts,  and  some  carrying  their  portmanteaux — 
looking,  in  fact,  like  "  a  rout  after  defeat."  *  He  there- 
fore advised  the  King  not  to  wait  for  them  ;  especially 
as  telegraphic  communication  with  Paris  had  not  been 
interrupted,  and  Napoleon  might  arrive  there  at   any 

1  Souvenirs  du  Marechal  Macdonald,  p.  369. 


His  Journey  through   France  253 

moment,  and  would  be  at  once  informed  of  the  King's 
movements.  But  Louis  XVIII,  who  was  as  calm  as 
though  he  had  been  in  the  Tuileries,  insisted  that  he 
must  have  his  dinner  before  leaving  Abbeville. 

At  Saint-Pol,  and  at  Bethune,  the  King  was  greeted 
with  the  utmost  enthusiasm  ;  at  the  latter  place,  where 
he  arrived  at  five  in  the  morning,  the  toilettes  of 
the  people,  who  thronged  to  see  him,  were  in  a  most 
unfinished  condition,  and  the  "  sous-prefet  "  appeared 
at  the  carriage  door  "  with  one  leg  half  bare,  feet  in 
slippers,  his  coat  under  his  arm,  waistcoat  and  shirt 
unbuttoned,  and  hat  on  his  head  !  He  was  not  able  to 
take  it  off"  because  his  hands  were  occupied  with  his 
sword,  and  with  his  cravat,  which  he  was  vainly  trying 
to  tie  round  his  neck."  l 

At  Lille,  where  the  King  arrived  at  about  twelve 
o'clock  on  March  22nd,  and  which  he  intended  to  make 
the  seat  of  his  Government,  the  inhabitants  received 
him  with  acclamations  ;  but  the  troops  lining  the 
streets  were  gloomily  silent,  and  kept  their  eyes  fixed 
on  the  ground  as  though  they  did  not  see  the  King's 
carriage.2  The  King  was  much  struck  by  their  aspect, 
and  remarked  on  it  when  he  arrived  at  the  house  of  the 
Mayor,  which  had  been  prepared  for  his  use.  In  the 
evening,  a  Council  was  held,  at  which  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  who  had  arrived  at  Lille  the  day  before,  the 
King,  Blacas,  and  the  Marshals  Macdonald,  Berthier, 
and  Mortier,  were  present.  A  letter  was  read  from 
Monsieur,  in  which  he  said  that  the  famous  Household 
Troops,  or  "Maison  du  Roi,"  which  it  must  be  remem- 
bered had  been  formed  to  be  the  great  bulwark  of 
Royalty  in  times  of  revolution,  were  in  such  confusion 

1  Souvenirs  du  Marechal  Macdonald,  p.  372. 
1  Journal  de  Louis  Philippe  (181 5),  p.  214. 


254  Louis  XVIII 

that  he  had  resolved  to  disband  them  ;  and  that  he 
and  his  sons  would  at  once  embark  at  Treport,  or  at 
Dieppe,  and  would  join  the  King  in  England  or  on 
the  Continent. 

This  letter  had  crossed  one  from  the  King  to 
Monsieur,  ordering  his  brother  to  bring  the  troops 
of  the  "  Maison  du  Roi  "  to  join  him  at  Lille,  and 
the  discussion  turned  on  the  question  of  Monsieur's 
most  likely  course.  At  the  same  time  news  arrived 
from  Paris  of  Napoleon's  imminent  arrival,  and  it 
was  the  general  opinion  of  the  Council  that  in  view 
of  the  evidently  disloyal  condition  of  the  troops,  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  the  King  to  remain  in  Lille  ; 
but  to  the  suggestion,  strongly  urged  by  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  that  the  King  should  leave  secretly  that 
night,  the  Marshal  Macdonald  objected  that  it  would 
not  be  dignified  for  him  to  fly  from  a  place  where 
he  had  announced  his  intention  of  setting  up  his 
Government.  Blacas  went  at  eleven  o'clock  that  night 
to  put  this  view  of  the  matter  before  the  King,  and 
found  him  in  his  shirt  shaving.  Blacas  submitted  the 
Marshal's  suggestion  to  him,  and  he  put  down  the 
razor,  and  said,  with  a  perhaps  excusable  oath  ;  "  Why 
do  they  change  their  opinion  every  moment,  and 
prevent  me  from  either  starting  or  going  to  bed  ? " 

The  poor  King  was  extremely  uncomfortable  at  this 
time,  for  his  portmanteau,  containing  six  shirts,  a 
dressing-gown,  and  some  slippers  of  which  he  was 
particularly  fond,  had  been  stolen  on  the  way  from 
Paris,  and  he  had  now  no  change  of  linen.  "  They 
have  taken  my  shirts,  and  before  then  I  had  not  very 
many,"  he  complained  to  Marshal  Macdonald.  Then 
he  added  sadly,  "  I  regret  even  more  the  loss  of  my 
slippers  ;  you  will  know  one  day,  my  dear  Marechal, 


He  Arrives  at  Ghent  255 

what  it  is  to  lose  slippers  which  have  taken  the  form 
of  one's  feet."  1 

The  old  Prince  de  Conde  had  just  arrived,  and 
made  a  slight  diversion  by  asking  whether,  as  next  day 
was  the  Thursday  in  Holy  Week,  the  King  intended 
to  observe  the  Ceremony  of  the  Washing  of  Feet,  a 
question  at  which  even  the  King  could  hardly  help 
laughing. 

Early  next  morning  news  came  of  the  organisation 
of  Napoleon's  Government,  and  the  King  decided  that 
instead  of  moving  to  Dunkirk  as  had  been  proposed, 
because  it  could  easily  be  fortified,  and  it  would  be 
possible  in  case  of  necessity  to  cross  from  there  to 
England,  it  would  be  wisest  to  go  into  Belgium  ;  where 
the  Prince  of  Orange  had  already  offered  the  Due 
d'Orleans  the  assistance  of  the  Allied  Army  for  the 
Bourbon  cause. 

The  King  left  Lyons  at  about  three  in  the  afternoon, 
and  on  his  way  to  the  frontier  town  of  Menin,  he  was 
much  touched  by  seeing  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages 
through  which  he  passed,  kneel  in  the  mud  imploring 
him  not  to  desert  them.  He  often  spoke  with  pleasure 
afterwards  of  this  proof  of  their  affection  for  him. 

The  Due  d'Orleans  was  left  in  Lyons,  and  the  King 
parted  from  the  Marechal  Macdonald  at  the  frontier  ; 
but  when  he  arrived  at  Ghent  he  found  Monsieur  and  the 
Due  de  Berry  waiting  to  receive  him.  On  March  30th 
he  entered  the  town,  dressed  in  a  sky-blue  coat,  and 
sitting  in  a  state  carriage  drawn  by  six  horses,  and 
drove  to  the  Hotel  d'Hane  de  Steenhuyse,  which  had 
been  placed  at  his  disposal. 

The  mansion  is  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and 
contains   several   fine  works  of  art.     The  suite   in   it 

1  Souvenirs  du  Marechal  Macdonald,  p.  376. 


256  Louis  XVIII 

occupied  by  the  King  consisted  of  five  rooms  :  two 
drawing-rooms — one  of  them  with  a  magnificent  floor 
of  Italian  marquetry — a  dining-room,  bedroom,  and 
audience-chamber.  The  rest  of  the  Royal  Family  took 
up  their  abode  in  different  houses  in  the  town.  The 
Comte  d'Artois  paid  a  thousand  francs  a  day  for  his 
own  accommodation  and  that  of  his  suite  at  the  Hotel 
des  Pays-Bas  ;  and  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  who 
came  several  times  to  Ghent  during  Louis  XVIII's 
stay  there,  occupied  a  house  near  the  King  in  the 
rue  des  Champs.  Before  long  all  the  King's  Ministers 
had  made  their  way  to  Ghent — the  Due  de  Feltre, 
Minister  of  War,  Monsieur  de  Jaucourt,  Foreign 
Minister  during  Talleyrand's  absence,  the  Grand 
Chancellor  Dambray,  l'Abbe  Louis,  and  Monsieur 
Beugnot.  The  Abb6  de  Montesquiou  was  in  London, 
and  Louis  XVIII  sent  for  Monsieur  de  Chateaubriand 
to  occupy  his  place  temporarily  as  Minister  of  the 
Interior.  The  eminent  writer  must  have  been  rather 
an  alarming  colleague,  as  he  evidently  considered  it 
necessary  to  be  prepared  for  all  possible  contingencies, 
and  appeared  at  the  Councils  with  a  huge  Damascus 
sabre  hanging  from  his  side  on  a  long  red  cord.1  To 
the  King's  satisfaction  all  the  foreign  Powers  sent  their 
Ambassadors  to  Ghent,  thus  refusing  to  recognise 
Napoleon's  usurpation  of  the  government.  Pozzo  di 
Borgo,  who  represented  Russia,  wrote :  "  My  arrival 
here  has  been  an  angel's  apparition,  though  I  do  not 
pretend  to  be  one." 2 

The  King  got  up  every  morning  at  six  o'clock,  and 
went  at  once  to  his  study.     After  working  there,  he 

1  Memoires  du  Chancelier  Pasgm'er,  vol.  iii.  p.  327. 

2  Correspondance  de  Pozzo  di  Borgo  et  de  Nesselrode.     Letter  5, 
April  17,   181 5. 


Life  at  Ghent  257 

heard  Mass,  and  dejeuner  followed  at  ten  o'clock,  while 
in  the  afternoon  he  drove  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  six 
horses  round  the  ramparts  of  the  town,  whence  there 
were  fine  views  of  the  surrounding  country.  He 
followed  this  recreation  by  a  Council  of  his  Ministers, 
who  lodged  in  different  houses  in  the  town,  dined 
at  three  francs  a  head,  and  none  of  them,  except 
the  Due  de  Feltre,  kept  a  carriage.  Their  chief  dissi- 
pation seems  to  have  been  an  occasional  expedition 
to  a  particular  inn  in  the  country,  where  they  feasted 
on  an  enormous  dish  of  the  delicate  white  fish  for 
which  Ghent  was  noted. 

Sometimes  they  were  invited  to  dine  with  the  King, 
when  he  did  the  honours  "  with  the  politeness  of  the 
Old  Court,  and  with  the  personal  grace  which  dis- 
tinguished him." 1  At  each  course  he  offered  his 
visitors  some  of  the  dish  before  him,  taking  the  oppor- 
tunity of  looking  round  the  table  with  a  kindly  glance 
and  a  few  gracious  words  to  each.  He  carved  the  joint 
with  rare  dexterity,  and  "  as  though  in  his  youth  he 
had  practised  himself  in  the  art  of  executing  the  smallest 
details  with  elegance." 

He  was  in  truth  on  all  occasions  a  King.  "  His 
misfortunes  never  wrung  from  him  the  smallest  con- 
cession. His  pride  grew  with  his  abasement  ;  his 
diadem  was  his  name.  He  seemed  to  say,  '  Kill  me, 
you  will  not  kill  the  centuries  inscribed  on  my 
forehead.'  "  2 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  his  consciousness  of  his 
own  dignity,  his  apparent  serenity,  and  his  sense  of  the 
humour  of  the  situation,  there  must  have  been  times 
when  a  feeling  of  amazement  overcame    him,  and    he 

1  Memoires  die  Comte  Beugnot,  vol.  ii.  p.  288. 

a  Chateaubriand,  Memoires  d'Oulre-Tombe,  vol.  iii.p.  458. 

l7 


25 8  Louis  XVIII 

was  almost  overwhelmed  with  the  flood  of  new  light 
which  poured  in  from  all  sides.  For  he  was  at  an 
almost  unique  juncture  in  the  annals  of  Royalty,  being 
set  aside  for  a  while,  and  given  breathing-space,  while 
the  barrier  which  guarded  him  from  the  tongues  of 
the  multitude  was  removed,  and  from  his  own  country, 
as  well  as  from  Europe  at  large,  arrived  criticism, 
admonitions,  blame,  and  advice.  When  he  first  came 
to  the  throne  he  had  known  little  or  nothing  of  his 
country  ;  and  this  is  not  surprising,  as  it  was  difficult 
to  learn  much  of  the  real  trend  of  opinion  in  Imperial 
France,  crushed  into  apparent  uniformity  by  the  iron 
rule  of  Napoleon  ;  and  even  when,  under  the  weak 
Government  of  the  Restoration,  clamorous  voices 
occasionally  made  themselves  heard,  the  King  had  taken 
credit  to  himself  for  the  philosophy  which  accounted 
without  undue  alarm  for  their  discordance. 

Now,  however,  the  unlooked-for  catastrophe  had  ar- 
rived ;  and  after  a  time  of  doubt  and  bewilderment  the 
King  began  to  learn  his  lesson.  Other  members  of  the 
Royal  Family  were  not  so  wise  as  he.  Monsieur  and 
his  followers  were  firm  in  their  belief  that  the  trouble 
had  been  caused  by  the  weakness  of  the  Government. 
"  Well,  my  dear  Beugnot,"  said  his  Royal  Highness 
to  the  Minister  of  Marine,  "  here  we  are,  out  again  ; 
and  whose  fault  is  it  ?  Can  you  this  time  blame  my 
principles,  which  were  not  followed,  or  my  friends,  who 
were  carefully  kept  at  a  distance.  Come,  be  candid, 
and  say  what  you  really  think."  1 

Monsieur's  party,  the  "  Pavilion  Marsan,"  as  they 
were  called,  from  the  part  of  the  Tuileries  occupied 
by  the  Prince,  were  strongly  represented  at  Ghent  ; 
and  they  considered  that  Louis  XVIII  was  preparing 

1  Memoires  du  Comte  Beugnot,  vol.  ii.  p.  27 1 . 


From  a  lithograph  by  Delpeche. 

JOSEPH    FOUCHE,    DUC    D'OTRAXTE. 

p.  258] 


Contending  Views  at  Ghent  259 

to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  unfortunate  Louis  XVI, 
and  would  lose  his  crown  by  making  unwise  con- 
cessions. This  Monsieur  was  determined,  for  his 
children's  sake  as  well  as  his  own,  to  prevent  at  all 
hazards  ;  and  as  he  and  the  other  members  of  the 
Royal  Family  were  intensely  jealous  of  Blacas,  and 
very  probably  quite  sincerely  considered  his  advice 
pernicious,  they  besieged  the  King  with  prayers  for 
his  removal  from  his  position  as  Master  of  the 
"  Maison  du  Roi,"  and  if  possible  his  exile  from 
France. 

It  is  curious  to  see  that  while  the  ultra-Royalists 
wished  to  destroy  a  man  whose  tenets  were  practically 
their  own,  their  hopes  still  centred  on  the  regicide 
Fouche,  who  was  now  chief  of  Napoleon's  Govern- 
ment, but  who  had  already  realised  that  it  was 
not  likely  to  be  durable,  and  despatched  Monsieur 
Gaillard  to  Ghent  to  negotiate  with  Monsieur  for 
the  return  of  the  Bourbons.  Fouche's  tactics  were 
as  usual  devious,  for  at  the  same  time  his  agents  had 
gone  to  Basle  to  discuss  with  the  Austrian  Minister, 
Prince  Metternich,  the  possibility  of  putting  Napoleon's 
son  in  his  father's  place,  and  he  had  sent  an  envoy  to 
Vienna  to  propose  the  possibility  of  making  the  Due 
d'Orleans  King  of  France. 

Everything  in  France  was  in  confusion  ;  and  even 
from  Vienna,  where  the  Congress  was  still  sitting,  came 
disquieting  news.  The  Great  Powers  had  heard  with 
dismay  of  Napoleon's  landing  on  the  shores  of  France, 
and  had  at  once  drawn  up  a  treaty  by  which  each  was 
obliged  to  provide  an  army  of  1 50,000  men,  and  to  fight 
till  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  his  adherents  should  be 
definitely  beaten.  This  was  a  terrible  necessity,  and  the 
assembled  Sovereigns  very  naturally  blamed  Louis  XVIII 


26o  Louis  XVIII 

for  the  weakness  and  mistakes  of  his  Government, 
which  had  in  their  opinion  compelled  them  to  resort 
to  it,  so  that  there  was  already  talk  at  the  Congress 
of  the  possibility  of  substituting  the  Due  d'Orleans  for 
his  cousin  as  King  of  France.  Talleyrand  has  been 
accused  of  being  secretly  the  instigator  of  this  idea, 
and  the  Due  d'Orleans,  who  had  now  retired  to 
England,  and  had  refused  to  obey  the  King's  order 
to  come  to  Ghent,  was  certainly  most  flattering  in 
his  expressions  to  Louis  XVIII's  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  telling  Talleyrand  that  "  there  was  no  opinion 
which  he  valued  more  than  his,  and  no  one  whose 
counsel  he  desired  more  earnestly,  or  to  whom  he 
would  be  more  disposed  to  defer."  1  The  Due 
d'Orleans  was  also  careful  to  send  Talleyrand  the 
advisory  letters  he  had  written  to  Louis  XVIII,  and 
to  make  him  the  confidant  of  his  grievances  against 
that  Monarch,  who  had  excluded  the  First  Prince 
of  the  Blood  from  his  Council,  and  wished  to  treat 
him  as  "  a  part  of  a  procession,  or  as  a  hanging  for 
a  wall  !  " 

The  Due  d'Orleans  was  a  danger  even  more  threaten- 
ing than  that  of  Napoleon's  invasion,  as  well  as  infinitely 
more  galling  to  the  King's  pride  ;  and  it  must  have 
been  a  terrible  blow  to  him  when  Talleyrand  wrote 
to  tell  him  of  an  interview  between  Lord  Clancarty 
and  the  Czar,  at  which  the  latter,  who  had  no  special 
cause  for  loving  the  Bourbons,  mooted  the  possibility 
of  the  Due  d'Orleans  being  invested  with  the  crown 
of  France  ;  but  the  English  Minister  fortunately  refused 
to  entertain  the  proposition. 

In  the  same  letter,  Talleyrand  gave  the  King  advice 
and  even  instructions  from  the  Powers  on  his  political 

1  Journal  de  Louis  Philippe,  1 8 1 5.     Letter  to  Talleyrand,  April  23. 


The  Orleans  Danger  261 

conduct.  "  It  is  considered  very  necessary  that  your 
Majesty  should  set  to  work  to  rally  all  the  parties 
round  himself,  by  assuring  to  them  all  without  distinc- 
tion the  advantages  of  constitutional  government.  The 
Powers  consider  that  a  Declaration  from  your  Majesty 
in  this  spirit,  would  be  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the 
forces  they  intend  to  bring  into  the  field.  Several 
of  them  wish  also  that  your  Majesty,  throwing  on 
your  Ministers  the  responsibility  of  any  faults  which 
may  have  been  committed,  should  form  a  new  Ministry 
as  though  you  were  in  France,  which  should  be  com- 
posed so  that  each  party  might  find  in  it  the 
guarantees  they  may  require.  I  have  been  asked  to 
write  about  this  to  your  Majesty."  *  Further  advice, 
of  which  the  Czar  seems  to  have  been  the  mouth- 
piece, treated  of  the  danger  of  allowing  Monsieur 
and  his  sons  a  voice  in  the  Government,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  getting  rid  of  Monsieur  de  Blacas,  who 
is  spoken  of  as  "  the  person  who  is  most  in  your 
Majesty's  confidence." 

As  a  result  of  this  letter,  the  King,  who  had  good 
cause  for  distrusting  Talleyrand,  ordered  him  to  come 
at  once  to  Ghent  ;  an  order  which  he  refused  to  obey. 

The  tone  of  the  letters  the  King  received  from  the 
Due  d'Orleans,  who  showed  as  great  a  reluctance  as 
did  Talleyrand  to  associate  himself  with  the  Royal 
policy  by  going  to  Ghent,  which  he  evidently  looked 
upon  as  a  second  Coblentz  infested  by  Emigres,  must 
have  been  even   more  trying  to  bear. 

For  the  Due  d'Orleans  set  himself  up  as  mentor 
to  his  cousin,  and  gave  him  much  advice,  which  was 
no    doubt    excellent,  discoursing    on    the    dangers    of 

1  Talleyrand  Correspondence.      Letter  to  Louis  XV I II,   April   23, 
1815. 


262  Louis  XVIII 

being  surrounded  by  Emigres,  or  of  entering  France 
with  the  Allied  Armies,  as  had  been  done  in  1792  ; 
and  begging  him  to  conciliate  the  Army,  instead  of 
employing  a  separate  body  such  as  the  "  Maison  du 
Roi  '  for  the  defence  of  the  Monarchy  ;  while  he  per- 
sisted in  remaining  at  Twickenham,  so  that  the  King 
was  deprived  of  the  support  of  his  presence  at  Ghent. 

Compared  with  the  counsel  lavished  on  Louis  XVIII 
by  his  young  cousin,  Guizot's  recommendations  must 
have  been  palatable.  He  was  sent  to  Ghent  as  an  envoy 
from  the  moderate  Royalists,  who  were  grouped  around 
Royer-Collard,  and  were  determined  to  express  to  the 
King  their  views  of  the  political  situation,  and  to 
inculcate  on  him  the  necessity  of  persevering  in  con- 
stitutional rule,  and  of  accepting  frankly  the  new 
conditions  of  French  society.  Guizot  was  in  addition 
specially  charged  to  beg  the  King  to  send  away 
Blacas,  and  to  associate  Talleyrand  with  his  Govern- 
ment. 

Ghent  was  not,  after  all,  a  second  Coblentz,  and 
when  Guizot  arrived  there,  he  found  that  many  of 
the  Ministers,  Jaucourt,  Louis,  and  Beugnot  among  the 
number,  were  quite  of  the  same  mind  as  he,  and  were 
most  anxious  for  government  according  to  the  Charter. 
The  King  granted  him  an  audience,  and  he  says  : 
"  Two  things  are  deeply  imprinted  on  my  mind,  the 
helplessness,  and  the  dignity  of  the  King  ;  there  was 
in  the  attitude  and  look  of  this  immovable  old  man, 
who  seemed  as  though  nailed  to  his  armchair,  a  lofty 
serenity,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  weakness,  a  tranquil 
confidence  in  the  power  of  his  name  and  of  his  rights, 
with  which  I  was  struck  and  touched."  x 

Guizot  spoke  plainly  to  the  King  about  the  weakness 
1  Guizot,  MemoireSy  vol.  i.  p.  85. 


Advice  Lavished  on  Him  263 

and  inconsistency  of  the  Government,  which  would,  he 
said,  prevent  its  durability  ;  and  the  King,  to  whom 
this  must  have  been  a  very  old  story,  answered  nothing. 
But  when  Guizot  attacked  Blacas,  he  said  :  "  I  will 
keep  to  everything  I  have  promised  in  the  Charter, 
but  names  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  ;  what  can  the 
friends  I  have  in  my  palace  matter  to  France,  as  long  as 
no  unsuitable  measures  are  passed  there  ?  Speak  to  me 
of  more  serious  causes  for  alarm."  Then  Guizot 
referred  to  the  disquietude  of  the  Protestants  in  the 
South  of  France,  who  had  been  subjected  to  violence  by 
the  ultra-Royalists,  and  the  King  said  :  "  That  is  very 
bad  ;  I  will  do  what  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  it "  ; 
adding,  however,  with  a  certain  pertinence,  "  but  I 
cannot  prevent  everything  ;  I  cannot  be  at  the  same 
time  a  constitutional  and  an  absolute  King." 

Louis  XVIII  seemed  to  Guizot  to  be  intelligent  and 
impartial,  to  take  a  just  but  superficial  view  of  things  ; 
but,  though  subtle  in  his  dealings  with  people  and 
careful  of  appearances,  to  be  little  interested  in  or 
instructed  about  what  was  below  the  surface  of  things, 
and  "  almost  equally  incapable  of  the  mistakes  which 
ruin,  as  of  the  successes  which  found  the  future  of  a 
Royal  race." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Quatre-Bras — Waterloo— Louis  XVIII  leaves  Ghent — Arrival  at  Mons 
— Parting  from  Blacas — Talleyrand — Proclamation  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis — Summons  Talleyrand  to  Cambrai — Proclamation  of 
Cambrai — Vitrolles,  Talleyrand,  Fouche — Fouch6  made  Chief 
Minister  of  Police — Louis  XVIII's  entry  into  Paris — King's  senti- 
ments on  Constitutional  Government — New  Cabinet — Decazes — 
Hardships  inflicted  by  Allies — Louis  XVIII's  courage — Ultra- 
Royalist  Chamber — The  Terreur  Blanche — Fouche's  fall — Talley- 
rand's fall — The  Due  de  Richelieu  becomes  head  of  Cabinet — 
His  character. 

TOWARDS  the  middle  of  June,  matters  at  Ghent 
became  unpleasantly  exciting.  On  the  15th,  the 
King  received  news  that  Napoleon  had  crossed  the 
frontier  with  his  army  on  his  way  to  meet  the  English, 
Prussian,  and  Belgian  troops,  and  a  day  or  two  later 
a  general  panic  was  caused  in  the  town  by  the  news 
of  his  victory  over  the  Allies  at  Quatre-Bras.  Many 
of  the  French  fugitives  left  Ghent  in  alarm,  but  the 
King,  though  surrounded  by  people  who  implored  him 
to  fly,  was  perfectly  calm.  "  Messieurs,"  he  said, 
il  I  have  heard  nothing  officially  ;  if  the  misfortune  had 
been  as  great  as  you  say  it  is,  I  should  have  been 
warned.  I  shall  not  move  from  here  unless  I  am 
forced  to  do  so  by  the  most  imminent  necessity  ;  let 
those  who  are  frightened  go."  x 

However,  in  the  middle  of  the  day  on  June   1 8th, 
Chateaubriand    made    his    way    out   of  Ghent  by  the 

1  Memoires  du  Comte  de  Rochechouart,  p.  393. 

264 


The  Battle  of  Waterloo  265 

Brussels  gate  to  take  a  solitary  stroll.  He  had  the 
Commentaries  of  Caesar  with  him,  and  was  deep  in  his 
book,  when  he  was  disturbed  by  a  dull  sound  which 
seemed  like  distant  thunder.  He  stopped  for  a 
moment  to  listen,  but  heard  nothing.  "  I  continued 
my  way,"  he  says,  "  and  had  not  taken  thirty  steps 
before  the  rolling  sound  began  again,  sometimes  in 
short  reverberations,  sometimes  long  and  at  unequal 
intervals  ;  and  occasionally  nothing  could  be  distin- 
guished but  a  quiver  in  the  air,  which  was  communi- 
cated to  the  earth  of  these  immense  plains,  so  far  off 
was  it.  These  detonations,  not  being  as  vast,  as  un- 
dulating, nor  as  consecutive  as  those  of  thunder,  made 
me  think  of  a  battle.  I  was  near  a  poplar,  planted  at 
the  corner  of  a  field  of  hops,  and  I  leant  against  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  with  my  face  turned  towards  Brussels. 
A  south  wind  had  risen,  and  wafted  to  me  distinctly 
the  sound  of  artillery.  This  great  battle,  yet  nameless, 
the  echoes  of  which  I  heard  at  the  foot  of  a  poplar,  and 
of  which  a  village  clock  had  just  sounded  the  knell, 
was  the  battle  of  Waterloo."  a 

In  the  evening  a  fresh  panic  was  caused  at  Ghent,  by 
the  news  arriving  from  Brussels  that  crowds  of  wounded 
were  coming  into  the  town.  Louis  XVIII  was  much 
agitated  ;  anxiety  and  excitement  seemed  to  have  given 
him  strength  and  power  of  movement,  and  he  paced  to 
and  fro,  going  from  time  to  time  to  the  window  to 
listen  for  the  expected  courier.2  What  had  happened  ? 
Was  he  doomed  to  become  once  more  an  exile  and 
wanderer  ? 

Late  that  night  the  news  of  Wellington's  great 
victory  reached  him,  and  he  slept  in  peace  ;  while  next 

1  Memoires  d'Outrc-Totnbe,  p.  497. 
8  See  Houssaye,  1815,  p.  132. 


266  Louis  XVIII 

day  came  a  letter  from  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  the  Russian 
Minister,  advising  the  King  to  move  at  once  to  Paris, 
if  he  wished  to  make  certain  of  the  crown  of  France. 
This  advice  the  King  determined  to  follow  in  preference 
to  that  of  Talleyrand,  who,  possibly  with  ulterior 
motives,  counselled  him  not  to  approach  the  capital  till 
he  was  certain  of  a  favourable  reception,  but  to  establish 
himself  at  Lyons,  where  he  would  be  surrounded  by  a 
friendly  population. 

Louis  XVIII  arrived  at  Mons,  his  first  halting  place, 
in  melancholy  mood,  for  he  had  at  last  made  up  his 
mind  to  dismiss  Blacas,  thus  yielding,  not  only  to  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  French  nation  and  of  the  Royal 
Family,  but  to  the  repeated  instances  of  the  Czar, 
Nesselrode,  Talleyrand,  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  Metternich, 
and  Wellington.  Mons  was  to  be  the  scene  of  the 
parting,  of  which  the  favourite  saw  the  necessity  as 
strongly  as  did  his  master,  though  he  seemed  naively 
surprised  at  Talleyrand's  mistaken  dislike  for  him,  and 
said  that  he  had  always  considered  the  Prince  de 
Benevent  to  be  indispensable  to  his  Master,  and  that 
he  could  have  worked  very  well  with  him.  Though 
Blacas  appears  never  to  have  entirely  filled  the  place 
vacated  by  d'Avaray,  the  separation  from  him  caused 
Louis  XVIII  the  utmost  grief,  and,  feeling  that  he 
owed  much  to  his  friend,  he  was  most  anxious  to 
show  his  gratitude.  Therefore,  besides  making  him  a 
rich  man  for  life,  he  sent  him  as  Ambassador  to 
Naples,  whence  he  went  to  Rome  to  negotiate  with  the 
Pope  about  the  new  Concordat,  which  Louis  XVIII 
hoped  to  substitute  for  Napoleon's  Concordat  of  1801. 
Blacas  went  straight  from  his  parting  interview  with 
the  King  to  the  Due  de  Feltre,  and  told  him  with  the 
utmost  emotion  that,  wishing  above  all  things  for  the 


Parting  with  Blacas  267 

happiness  of  his  Master  and  of  his  country,  and 
fearing  that  even  if  he  did  not  appear  at  the  King's 
Councils  his  presence  might  be  hurtful  to  his  Majesty, 
he  was  retiring  abroad,  and  would  remain  there  till 
justice  was  done  to  him  by  public  opinion.  "  Ready 
to  sacrifice  his  life  for  the  King,  he  did  not  hesitate 
even  to  sacrifice  his  honour  for  him."  x 

When  Beugnot  spoke  to  Blacas  of  the  isolation  of 
the  King,  and  of  his  unhappiness  when  his  friend 
should  have  left  him,  Blacas  answered  : 

M  Ah,  my  poor  Beugnot,  you  do  not  understand 
what  the  friendship  of  a  King  is  ;  I  am  sure  that  in 
a  month  from  now  he  will  be  consoled." 

Monsieur  Beugnot  laughed  heartily  when  telling 
the  story.  "  He  made  a  mistake,"  he  said ;  "  he 
made  a  mistake  of  twenty-seven  days  !  At  the  end 
of  three  days  there  was  no  remembrance  left  of  the 
man  who  had  enjoyed  such  great  favour."2 

Monsieur  Beugnot  appears  by  this  assertion  to  have 
considered  himself  endowed  with  powers  of  an  omni- 
scient nature,  for  Louis  XVIII  was  not  a  man  who 
wore  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve.  However,  even  if 
the  King  did  not  find  the  separation  from  Blacas  so 
terrible  as  the  parting  from  d'Avaray  had  been,  in  the 
first  freshness  of  his  grief  he  was  hardly  likely  to  view 
Talleyrand  with  an  indulgent  eye,  for  he  considered 
that  he,  working  through  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
had  been  the  principal  instigator  of  Blacas'  down- 
fall. He  also  suspected  Talleyrand  of  intriguing  at 
Vienna  in  the  interests  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  and  his 
Foreign  Minister  had  further  increased  his  indignation 
by  refusing  to  obey  his  summons  to  come  to  him  at 

1  Rochechouart  Memoires,  p.  394. 

*  Memoires  du  Baron  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  iii.  p.  101. 


268  Louis  XVIII 

Ghent,  justifying  his  disobedience  to  the  Royal  com- 
mands by  a  pretence  of  bad  health,  and  the  necessity 
for  a  course  of  Carlsbad  waters.  "  Talleyrand  boasts," 
Louis  XVIII  said  bitterly,  "  of  having  put  the  crown 
for  the  second  time  upon  my  head,  and  now  threatens 
to  return  to  Germany."  1 

Talleyrand,  for  his  part,  fresh  from  Vienna,  where 
he  had  seemed  the  most  important  person  in  Europe, 
burst  into  violent  anger  when  he  spoke  of  Louis  XVIII's 
ingratitude  and  folly.  He  arrived  at  Mons  the  evening 
before  the  King's  departure,  and  while  holding  a 
reception,  at  which  he  spoke  most  openly  of  his 
grievances  and  of  the  mistakes  of  the  Bourbon  Govern- 
ment, he  refused  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  King,  and 
when  pressed  to  do  so  by  his  friends,  said  with 
superb  arrogance,  "  I  am  never  in  a  hurry  ;  to-morrow 
will  be  time  enough." 2  He  believed  himself  to 
be  indispensable,  and  apparently  considered  that  Louis 
XVIII  would  wait  at  Mons  till  he  should  choose 
to  go  to  see  him.  He  was  therefore  absolutely  in- 
credulous when  he  heard  that  the  King  would,  in 
defiance  of  his  advice,  continue  his  journey  to  Paris 
early  next  morning.  "  He  will  not  dare  !  "  3  he  said 
contemptuously. 

However,  Louis  XVIII  was  never  deficient  in  moral 
courage,  and  at  three  in  the  morning  Talleyrand  was 
awoken  by  the  news  that  the  King  was  starting. 
According  to  the  account  given  by  Chateaubriand,4 
"  he  could  not  believe  his  ears."  "  Cheated  !  betrayed ! ' 
he  cried.  They  get  him  up,  and  there  he  is  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  in  the  street  at  three  o'clock  in  the 

1  Chateaubriand,  Memoires  d'Outre-Tombe,  vol.  iv.  p.  II. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  io. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  12. 

4  Ibid. 


Interview  with  Talleyrand  269 

morning,  leaning  on  Monsieur  de  Rice.  He  arrives 
in  front  of  the  King's  house  ;  the  leaders  drawing  the 
carriage  already  have  their  bodies  half  through  the 
gateway.  Some  one  signs  to  the  postilion  to  stop. 
The  King  asks  what  is  the  matter ;  they  call  to 
him,  "  Sire,  it  is  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand."  "  He  is 
asleep  !  "  said  Louis  XVIII.  "  Here  he  is,  Sire."  "  1 
will  go  in,"  answers  the  King.  The  horses  turn 
back,  the  carriage  door  is  opened,  the  King  gets  down 
and  goes  with  difficulty  into  his  private  room,  followed 
by  the  limping  Minister.  There  Monsieur  de  Talley- 
rand begins  an  angry  explanation.  His  Majesty  listens 
to  it,  and  answers,  "  Prince  de  Benevent,  you  are 
leaving  us  ?  The  waters  will  do  you  good.  You 
will  let  us  hear  from  you."  The  King  leaves  the 
Prince  in  a  state  of  amazement,  is  conducted  to  his 
carriage,  and  starts. 

In  his  disgust  at  Talleyrand's  duplicity  and  want 
of  respect  for  his  authority,  Louis  XVIII  seems  at 
this  time  to  have  contemplated  a  Cabinet  composed, 
at  any  rate  partially,  of  the  Ministry  of  the  first 
Restoration  ;  and  for  this  combination  the  Prince  de 
Benevent  would  certainly  not  have  been  suitable. 
Therefore  Talleyrand,  who  had  used  the  pretext  of 
his  desire  to  go  to  Carlsbad  as  a  threat  of  resignation, 
was  taken  at  his  word,  and  was  left  by  the  King  in 
so  furious  a  condition  that  he  was  quite  incoherent. 

At  Cateau-Cambresis,  the  King's  next  stopping- 
place  and  the  headquarters  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
Louis  XVIII  published  a  proclamation  which  did  not 
show  his  usual  tact  and  sagacity,  for  in  it  he  spoke 
of  the  "  inconceivable  defection  "  of  his  subjects,  and 
said  he  was  returning  "  to  reward  the  good,  and  to 
put    into    execution    the  laws   already  existing   against 


270  Louis  XVIII 

the  guilty "  ;  while  he  did  not  breathe  a  word  of 
clemency,  nor  express  any  doubt  as  to  the  complete 
wisdom  of  his  previous  modes  of  government. 

However,  when  the  King  had  recovered  his  equa- 
nimity, better  counsels  prevailed  ;  and  he  realised  that 
as  Talleyrand's  separation  from  him  had  caused  a 
split  in  his  Council,  and  in  consequence  the  more 
important  of  his  former  Ministers  were  not  accom- 
panying him  on  his  journey  towards  Paris,  but  had 
remained  at  Mons  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  it  would  not  be  safe  to  allow  pique  to  prevail 
over  policy.  Therefore,  on  the  advice  of  Wellington, 
supported  by  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  the  Russian  Minister, 
who,  in  addition  to  a  real  affection  for  the  Bourbons, 
possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  situation,  he 
sent  to  beg  Talleyrand  to  come  to  him  for  a  conference 
on  the  situation.  Talleyrand  hesitated,  being  still  on 
his  dignity,  but  was  soothed  by  a  letter  from  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  saying  that  it  was  he  who  had  insisted 
on  the  King  going  at  once  to  Paris,  and  that  if 
Talleyrand  had  known  all  the  features  of  the  situa- 
tion, he  would  have  understood  the  necessity  for  this 
policy. 

Talleyrand  therefore  consented  to  meet  the  King 
at  Cambrai,  and  Louis  XVIII  received  him,  as  well 
as  the  other  constitutional  Ministers,  with  much  affa- 
bility, and  made  no  mention  of  what  had  happened 
at  Mons.  A  Council  was  to  be  held  the  next  day, 
and  in  the  evening  Talleyrand  collected  all  the  Ministers 
at  his  house,  and  insisted  to  them  that  it  was  necessary 
for  the  King  to  issue  a  proclamation  acknowledging 
the  faults  of  his  late  Government,  and  appointing  a 
provisory  Commission  till  a  Ministry  should  be  formed. 
He  asked  Beugnot  to  draw  up  the  proclamation,  which 


Proclamation  of  Cambrai  271 

was  very  different  in  character  from  the  one  which  had 
preceded  it. 

In  it  the  King  was  made  to  say  that  he  placed 
himself  for  the  second  time  between  his  people  and 
the  Allied  Armies,  and  that  the  difficulties  in  his  way 
when  he  came  first  to  the  throne  being  numerous,  in 
all  probability  his  Government  had  made  some  almost 
unavoidable  mistakes.  The  finish  of  the  proclamation 
was  to  the  effect  that,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
instigators  of  the  horrible  treason  which  had  cost  the 
lives  of  so  many  of  his  subjects,  the  King  promised 
a  general  amnesty. 

As  framed  at  first  by  Beugnot,  there  was  another 
clause,  in  which  the  King  asked  pardon  of  his  subjects 
for  the  mistakes  into  which  he  had  been  led  by  family 
affection,  and  promised  amendment  in  the  future. 
When  Beugnot  read  the  proclamation  to  the  Council, 
which  consisted,  besides  the  King  and  Royal  Family, 
of  Talleyrand,  Dambray,  Feltre,  Jaucourt,  and  Beur- 
nonville,  Louis  XVIII,  who  had  listened  with  a  certain 
amount  of  emotion,  asked  to  hear  it  again.  After  the 
second  reading,  Monsieur  spoke  with  much  indignation 
of  this  clause.  He  said  that  such  expressions  degraded 
Royalty. 

Talleyrand  answered,  "  Monsieur  will  pardon  me 
if  I  differ  from  him.  I  find  these  expressions  neces- 
sary, and  well  placed.  The  King  has  made  mistakes  ; 
he  has  been  misled  by  his  affections.  There  is  nothing 
too  much  said  in  that." 

"  Is  it  I,"  returned  Monsieur,  "  whom  you  intend 
to  designate  in  an  indirect  manner  ?  " 

"  Yes,  since  Monsieur  has  started  the  discussion 
on  these  lines  ;  Monsieur  has  done  a  great  deal  of 
harm." 


272  Louis  XVIII 

"  The  Prince  de  Talleyrand  forgets  himself!  " 

"  I  fear  so  ;  but  I  am  carried  away  by  the  truth." 

Monsieur  le  due  de  Berry,  in  the  tone  of  one  who 

forcibly  keeps  down  his  anger  :   "  It  is  only  because  of 

the  presence  of  the  King  that  I  allow  any  one  to  treat 

my  Father  like  this  before  me,  and  I  should  like  to 

know " 

At  these  words,  said  in  a  tone  even  louder  than  the 
rest,  the  King  made  a  sign  to  the  Due  de  Berry,  and 
said  :  "  Enough,  nephew  ;  it  is  for  me  alone  to  judge 
what  is  said  in  my  presence  and  at  my  Council. 
Gentlemen,  I  cannot  approve  of  the  terms  of  the 
proclamation,  nor  of  the  discussion  of  which  it  has 
been  the  subject.  The  writer  will  correct  his  work, 
so  as  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  dignified  propriety  which 
it  is  necessary  to  observe  when  I  am  made  to  speak."  1 

Meanwhile,  the  active  Vitrolles,  who  had  been  im- 
prisoned by  Napoleon's  orders,  but  released  after 
Waterloo  by  Fouche,  was  working  energetically  for  the 
restoration  of  Louis  XVIII  to  the  throne,  and  with 
this  object  in  view,  was  having  daily  interviews  with 
Fouche.  Eventually,  the  latter  promised  to  propose 
to  the  two  Chambers  the  return  of  the  Bourbons, 
if  Marechal  Davoust,  who  was  Minister  of  War 
and  in  command  of  the  Army,  would  announce  that 
Paris  could  not  possibly  be  defended  against  the  Allies  ; 
and  the  Allies,  for  their  part,  would  promise  to  suspend 
hostilities  if  Louis  XVIII  were  restored  to  the  throne. 

After  many  complicated  negotiations,  during  which 
Talleyrand  and  Wellington  visited  Fouche  as  emissaries 
from  Louis  XVIII,  and  Fouche  deceived  every  one 
in  turn,  the  capitulation  of  Paris  and  the  second 
Restoration  of  Louis  XVIII  were  decided  on.  But 
1  Memoires  du  Comte  Beugnot,  vol.  ii.  p.  314. 


T7^V^^V^\iiSU^&^T^,t^VJ^^VVV^yWJi.\V^W-iV^ 


From  an  engraving  by   Berthonier,  after  a   drawing  by  Augustiii. 

CHARLES    FERDINAND,    DUC    DE    BERRY. 

p.  272] 


Fouche  as  Minister  273 

the  price  had  to  be  paid.  The  regicide  Fouche  must 
be  rewarded,  though  when  some  one  suggested  that 
he  should  be  made  a  Peer,  the  King  showed  his 
feelings  plainly.  "  I  prefer,"  he  said,  "  appointing  a 
Minister  whom  I  can  dismiss,  to  creating  a  peer,  who 
is  irremovable."  1 

Strangely  enough,  not  only  Wellington  and  Talley- 
rand, but  the  members  of  the  ultra- Royalist  party  with 
Monsieur  at  their  head,  insisted  that  there  was  no 
safety  without  Fouche  in  the  Ministry,  and  Louis  XVIII 
was  forced  to  yield  to  the  general  clamour.  Beugnot, 
who  was  acting  as  the  King's  Secretary  of  State  during 
the  journey  from  Ghent  to  Paris,  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  King's  emotion  when  he  affixed  his 
signature  to  the  document  conferring  on  the  regicide 
the  appointment  of  Head  of  the  Police. 

"  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  asked  me  if  I  had  that 
day  any  signatures  to  get  from  the  King,  and  on  my 
saying  yes,  he  asked  me  to  add  to  them  an  order  re- 
constructing the  Ministry  of  Police,  and  putting 
Monsieur  the  Due  d'Otrante  at  the  head  of  it.  I  did 
what  I  was  told  to  do,  and  presented  myself  to  the 
King  with  my  portfolio,  keeping  till  the  last  the 
order  about  which  there  was  so  much  excitement. 
The  King's  face  had  lost  nothing  of  its  usual  calm, 
and  seemed  rather  to  express  content  than  sorrow.  He 
wrote  without  difficulty,  and  in  the  usual  way,  the  first 
signatures  I  asked  from  him,  and  took  this  opportunity 
of  laughing  at  my  impatience  to  re-enter  Paris,  as  if, 
he  said,  I  could  not  be  separated  even  for  a  few  days 
from  the  Opera  and  its  concomitants.  I  reassured 
the  King  as  to  the  ardour  he  supposed  me  to  feel  for 
the  Opera,  and  even  for  its  concomitants,  and  at  the 

1  Memoires  du  Comte  de  Vitrolles,  vol.  iii.  p.  115. 

18 


274  Louis  XVIII 

same  time  I  presented  to  him  for  signature  the  order 
for  the  nomination  of  the  Due  d'Otrante.  The  King 
glanced  at  it,  and  let  it  fall  on  the  desk  ;  his  pen 
dropped  from  his  fingers,  his  eyes  became  gloomy,  and 
he  sunk  suddenly  down  in  his  seat  as  though  crushed 
by  deadly  thoughts.  A  melancholy  silence  had  suddenly 
interrupted  a  conversation  which  had  till  that  moment 
been  easy  and  agreeable.  The  silence  lasted  several 
minutes,  then  the  King  said  to  me,  with  a  deep  sigh  : 

"  {  So  it  must  be  done  !      Come,  then  !   .   .  .  ' 

"  He  took  up  the  pen,  stopped  again  before  be- 
ginning to  write,  and  said  : 

"  l  Ah,  my  poor  brother  !  if  you  can  see  me,  you  will 
forgive  me  !  ' 

"  At  last  he  signed  ;  but  at  the  moment  when  he  was 
doing  it,  trembling  and  with  difficulty,  great  tears  fell 
from  his  eyes  and  made  the  paper  wet.  I  took  up  the 
order,  I  bowed,  and  left  the  room.  Even  if  respect 
had  not  dictated  this  to  me,  I  should  not  have  been 
able  to  utter  a  word,  nor  have  known  what  to  say 
during  such  a  heartrending  scene."  * 

Fouche's  presentation  to  Louis  XVIII  took  place  at 
Saint-Denis,  the  day  before  the  King's  entry  into  Paris. 
Chateaubriand  sat  in  a  corner  of  the  antechamber  wait- 
ing for  admittance  to  the  King.     He  says  : 

"  Suddenly  a  door  opens  ;  vice  enters  leaning 
silently  on  the  arm  of  crime  :  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand 
walking  supported  by  Monsieur  Fouche  ;  the  infernal 
vision  passes  slowly  in  front  of  me,  enters  the  King's 
private  room,  and  disappears."  2 

In  the  presence  of  the  King,  even  Fouche  lost  his 
assurance  ;  but  the  painful  interview  was  short. 

1  Memoires  du  Comte  Beugnot,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 
■  Memoires  d  Outre-Tombe,  vol.  iv.  p.  25. 


The  Second  Restoration  275 

"  I  am  aware,  Sir,"  said  Louis  XVIII,  "  of  the 
services  you  have  done  me ;  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
has  informed  me  about  them.  I  intend  you  to 
become  Minister  of  Police  ;  I  hope  that  in  that  post 
you  will  do  me  further  service."  He  then  asked 
Fouche  a  few  questions  about  the  state  of  Paris, 
which  the  latter  answered  shortly,  and  the  audience 
was  over. 

At  nine  o'clock  on  July  8th,  1815,  the  tricoloured 
flag  disappeared,  and  the  white  flag  was  hoisted  on  the 
Tuileries  ;  and  at  half-past  three  the  firing  of  cannon 
announced  the  King's  arrival.  Fouche  had  wished  him 
not  to  pass  through  the  crowded  Faubourg  Saint-Denis 
for  fear  of  hostile  demonstrations,  but  Louis  XVIII 
refused  to  listen  to  him.  The  King  was  in  a  closed 
carriage,  with  the  Comte  d'Artois  and  the  Due  de 
Berry  on  each  side  of  him.  He  looked  sad  and  stern, 
and  it  was  indeed  a  melancholy  return  to  his  capital. 
For  the  Allied  Armies  were  in  possession  of  Paris,  and, 
exasperated  by  French  fickleness,  were  not  in  the 
same  indulgent  mood  as  in  the  preceding  year,  the 
Prussians  in  particular  showing  an  inclination  to  punish 
and  humiliate  France  for  the  trouble  she  had  caused 
them.  Indeed,  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  obliged 
to  remonstrate  with  the  Prussian  General,  Blucher,  who 
had  fixed  cannon  in  all  the  most  public  places,  and  had 
tried  to  force  an  indemnity  of  a  hundred  millions  of 
francs  from  the  municipality  of  Paris.  Louis  XVIII 
was  much  distressed  at  the  position  of  affairs  :  "  They 
have  bivouacked  in  the  Court  of  the  Tuileries,  and 
cannon  are  pointed  at  the  Pont- Royal !  Against  whom 
are  they  fighting  ?  I  will  never  believe  that  the 
Sovereigns  have  authorised  anything  like  this."  .  .  . 
And  after  these  words  Beugnot,  who  tells  the  story, 


276  Louis  XVIII 

says  that  the  King  put  his  elbows  on  his  bureau  and 
hid  his  face  in  his  hands."  ! 

The  King,  counselled  by  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  by 
Wellington,  and  indeed  by  the  representatives  of  all 
the  Great  Powers,  who,  moreover,  being  in  possession 
of  the  country,  had  power  to  enforce  their  representa- 
tions, had  now  determined  to  put  aside  all  prejudices 
resulting  from  early  training,  and  to  govern  as  a  consti- 
tutional monarch.  This  resolution  cost  him  much,  and 
he  explains  his  views  on  the  matter  with  his  usual  witty 
good  sense,  in  a  confidential  letter,  in  which  he  refers 
to  an  article  written  to  prove  that  the  Monarchy  had 
benefited  from  the  Revolution.  "  I  had  a  very  good 
leg ;  it  has  been  broken,  and  they  have  set  it  for  me 
somehow.  But  at  least  I  can  walk,  and  I  prefer  limping 
to  submitting  to  an  operation  which  would  probably 
result  in  making  me  bedridden.  I  think  I  am  right. 
But  that  any  one  should  support  the  view  that  it  is  an 
advantage  for  me  to  have  had  my  leg  broken,  and  to 
prove  that,  should  insult,  should  calumniate  my 
ancestors  .   .  .  that  afflicts  me." 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  small  modicum  of  en- 
thusiasm the  King  could  muster  for  the  new  political 
ideas,  he  was  absolutely  loyal  in  his  determination  to 
keep  to  them  ;  and  even  Beugnot,  who  dislikes  and 
belittles  him,  cannot  withold  his  admiration  for  his 
conduct  in  this  respect. 

Speaking  of  a  clause  in  the  Charter  to  which  the 
King  adhered  strictly,  and  which  forbad  for  all  time 
the  confiscation  of  property,  whatever  the  offence 
might  be,  Beugnot  expresses  himself  as  follows  : 
"  On  the  King's  return  from  Ghent,  when  he  found 
himself  master  of  men  who  had  not  only  betrayed,  but 

1  Memoires  du  Comte  Beugnot^  vol.  ii.  p.  349. 


His  Good  Sense   and   Moderation         277 

outraged  him,  when  from  all  sides  cries  of  vengeance 
sounded  in  his  ears,  and  he  was  told  continually  that 
during  the  '  Hundred  Days '  the  enemies  of  his 
dynasty  had  not  been  so  generous  ;  when  the  majority 
of  the  Chamber  of  1 8 1 5  had  expressed  their  impatience 
at  this  article  of  the  Charter,  had  exhausted  their 
efforts  to  find  ways  to  elude  it,  and  had  shown  very 
plainly  how  they  would  have  greeted  its  withdrawal, 
Louis  XVIII  remained  a  King,  and  superior  to  all 
these  short-sighted  and  revengeful  views."  x 

The  new  Cabinet  was  for  the  most  part  composed  of 
men  of  moderate  views.  Besides  Talleyrand,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council,  who  kept  the  post  of  Foreign 
Minister,  and  Fouche,  who  became  Minister  of 
Police,  it  included  the  Baron  Louis  as  Minister  of 
Finance,  and  the  General  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr  as  War 
Minister.  Under  Fouche,  holding  the  modest  post  of 
Prefect  of  Police,  was  a  man  whose  name  had  been 
hitherto  quite  unknown,  but  who  was  destined  to  rise 
quickly  to  a  position  of  the  utmost  prominence  in 
France,  whose  policy  was  to  have  a  most  decisive 
influence  on  her  history  for  the  next  few  years,  and 
who  was  to  distance  Blacas,  and  even  d'Avaray,  in  the 
King's  affections. 

It  had  been  decided  by  the  representatives  of  the 
Foreign  Powers,  as  well  as  by  Talleyrand,2  that,  as  no 
trust  could  be  put  in  Fouche,  it  would  be  well  to  estab- 
lish direct  communication  between  his  subordinate  and 
Louis  XVIII  ;  and  thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
fortunes  of  the  future  Due  Decazes.  He  was  from  the 
first  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  ultra-Royalists  ; 
and  Vitrolles,  who  scented  danger  from  afar,  and  was  at 

1  Mcmoircs  du  Comte  Beugnot,  vol.  ii.  p.  330. 

3  Correspondancc  Pozzo  di  Borgo  and  Nesselrode,  vol.  ii.  p.  232. 


278  Louis  XVIII 

this  time  all-powerful,  took  the  precaution  of  telling  him 
that  he  must  always  apply  to  him  and  not  to  the  King, 
whenever  he  wanted  to  arrange  anything  unknown  to 
Fouche.  This  intrigue,  however,  failed  ;  as  Talleyrand, 
who  had  no  desire  to  increase  Vitrolles'  importance, 
while  he  evidently  wished  for  his  own  ends  to  bring 
Decazes  into  contact  with  the  King,  ordered  him  not  to 
obey  Vitrolles,  but  to  apply  directly  to  Louis  XVIII 
whenever  this  seemed  expedient. 

Decazes'  first  interview  with  the  King  was  on  the 
subject  of  a  reported  attempt  at  assassinating  the  Czar, 
which  Talleyrand  had  employed  him  to  investigate. 
The  supposed  poisoned  water  only  contained  saltpetre, 
which  was  used  by  the  servants  to  wash  window  panes, 
and  when  Decazes  explained  this,  the  King  said  that  he 
was  glad  to  have  as  Prefect  of  Police  a  man  who  was  so 
acute  and  intelligent,  and  that  he  wished  him  to  return 
the  next  day  with  further  details.  The  King  also  ex- 
pressed astonishment  when  the  young  Prefect  repeated 
Vitrolles'  words  to  him,  and  said  that  he  had  no  con- 
fidence in  Fouche,  and  trusted  to  Decazes  to  stop  his 
intrigues.  Evidently  Louis  XVIII  was  favourably  im- 
pressed by  the  pleasant  manners,  tact,  and  intelligence 
of  the  handsome  young  man.  On  the  other  hand, 
Decazes  had  made  a  bitter  enemy  in  Vitrolles,  who  had 
himself  wished  to  occupy  the  place  of  favourite  vacated 
by  Blacas,  and  who  met  the  Prefect  of  Police  as  he  was 
leaving  the  King's  Cabinet,  and  could  not  have  looked 
more  astonished  had  he  seen  Medusa's  head.  "  The 
bows  we  exchanged  silently  were  the  last  between  us," 
says  Decazes  significantly,  and  Vitrolles  took  care 
to  inform  Fouche  that  his  subordinate  was  engaged 
without  his  knowledge  in  affairs  which  brought 
him    into    contact    with    the    King ;    so    that    another 


A   New  Favourite  279 

apparently  most  dangerous  adversary  was  secured  to 
Decazes. 

However,  all  obstacles  were  destined  to  fall  before 
Decazes  ;  for  the  King's  objection  to  personal  inter- 
course with  Fouche  made  many  interviews  necessary 
between  him  and  the  young  Prefect  of  Police,  whose 
favour  continued  to  grow.  Louis  XVIII,  with  his 
notorious  desire  for  a  close  friend  who  would  amuse 
him,  think  and  feel  with  him,  and  receive  his  con- 
fidences, was  now  in  a  miserably  isolated  condition  ; 
for  his  policy  was  strongly  reprobated  by  nearly  all 
his  family,  and  he  was  opposed  tooth  and  nail  by 
Monsieur,  whose  determination  was  only  equalled  by 
the  lack  of  sequence  and  of  reason  in  his  ideas. 

Many  were  Louis  XVIII's  troubles ;  for  he  had 
returned  to  a  wretched  country — rent  by  dissensions, 
threatened  with  dismemberment  by  the  nations  lying 
nearest  to  her  frontier,  and  pillaged  by  the  foreign 
troops,  who  laid  siege  to  any  towns  which  dared  to 
refuse  submission  to  them.  Even  France's  best  friend, 
the  Czar,  angry  at  the  alliance  concluded  without  his 
knowledge  between  France,  Austria,  and  England  at 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  annoyed  at  Louis  XVIII's 
want  of  enthusiasm  about  a  proposed  marriage  be- 
tween a  Russian  Grand  Duchess  and  the  Due  de  Berry, 
and  indignant  with  the  Revolutionary  party  and  with 
the  Bonapartists  for  their  late  insurrection,  did  not 
feel  his  former  warm  attachment  for  French  interests. 
National  pride  was  terribly  outraged  by  the  demand 
of  the  Allies  for  the  restitution  of  the  Art  treasures 
which  had  been  seized  by  Napoleon  in  the  countries 
he  had  vanquished,  bitter  complaints  were  caused 
by  the  fact  that  the  foreign  troops  were  lodged 
in    Paris    at    the    expense    of    the     inhabitants,     and 


28o  Louis  XVIII 

the  8,000,000  francs,  to  which  the  indemnity  was 
reduced  by  Wellington's  intervention  with  Bliicher, 
seemed  a  large  sum  to  the  Parisians.  In  all  the 
other  towns  the  same  severe  policy  was  carried  out  by 
the  Allies,  and  a  cry  of  rage  and  humiliation  rose 
from  France  at  her  almost  desperate  position. 

One  of  the  Prussian  General's  threats  roused  the 
King's  spirit  to  the  uttermost ;  and  he  showed  that, 
though  helpless  and  infirm,  he  was  yet  courageous 
and  patriotic.  In  spite  of  Wellington's  remonstrances, 
Bliicher  announced  his  intention  of  blowing  up  the 
bridge  of  Jena,  the  name  of  which  evoked  unpleasant 
recollections  of  defeat  in  Prussian  ears.  It  was  in  vain 
that  Louis  XVIII  at  once  rechristened  the  bridge  the 
Pont  des  Invalides.  The  work  of  destruction  was 
already  begun  when  Decazes  hurried  to  the  King  : 
"  At  my  narration  his  face  became  lit  up  with  the  fire 
of  anger.  In  a  tone  of  calm  and  firm  determination 
he  ordered  his  carriage,  and  said  to  me  :  '  Monsieur  le 
Prefet,  let  the  Sovereigns  know  that  in  a  few  moments 
I  shall  be  on  the  bridge  they  wish  to  destroy,  and 
that  it  will  be  blown  up  with  me  on  it,  if  this  odious 
violation  of  the  right  of  peoples  and  of  treaties  be  not 
stopped  in  time.'  "  1 

Decazes  hurried  at  once  to  the  Hotel  Wagram,  and 
told  the  Emperor  of  Austria  of  the  King's  heroic 
resolution.  Francis  II  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  Czar 
and  to  the  King  of  Prussia  ;  and  before  Louis  XVIII 
arrived  at  the  bridge,  the  work  of  destruction  had 
ceased,  and  the  workmen  had  disappeared  ;  while  the 

1  This  passage  is  taken  from  Decazes'  notes,  quoted  by  Ernest 
Daudet  in  Louts  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes.  Talleyrand  quotas,  in  his 
Memoires,  words  from  the  King  to  the  same  effect ;  and  Beugnot's 
story,  that  he  invented  the  King's  heroic  resolution  for  him,  is  proved 
to  be  untrue. 


The  Bridge   of  Jena  281 

King  returned  to  the  Tuileries  "  amid  the  acclamations 
of  an  immense  crowd,  electrified  by  his  heroism." 

After  reading  this  it  is  strange  to  realise  that,  in 
some  quarters,  Louis  XVIII  was  never  pardoned  for 
the  sufferings  inflicted  by  his  Allies  (as  the  complain- 
ants sarcastically  termed  the  invaders),  and  was  even 
credited  with  feeling  perverse  satisfaction  in  the  de- 
spoiling of  France. 

However,  the  country  generally,  in  terror  even 
for  her  national  existence,  and  considering  that  her 
present  miserable  and  crippled  condition  had  been 
caused  by  infamous  traitors,  suddenly  became  ardently, 
unmeasuredly,  and  intolerantly  reactionary.  The 
Chamber  of  Deputies  of  1 8 1 5  was  almost  entirely 
ultra-Royalist,  and  the  few  men  of  other  persuasions 
who  had  found  entrance  to  its  benches  sat  there  ill 
at  ease,  feeling  themselves  suspected,  if  not  of  treason- 
able designs,  at  least  of  unsound  and  dangerous  views. 
In  many  parts  of  France  risings  took  place  against  the 
Bonapartists,  the  Revolutionaries,  and  the  Protestants  ; 
and  the  town  of  Nimes  was  in  a  state  of  terror,  for 
bands  of  assassins  marched  through  the  streets,  enter- 
ing the  houses  of  people  who  were  suspected  of  Bona- 
partism,  and  pillaging  and  murdering.  Marseilles  was 
not  behindhand  in  violence  ;  in  fact,  throughout  the 
South  what  is  known  as  the  u  Terreur  Blanche  "  was 
in  progress — and  little  redress  was  possible, .  for  the 
mass  of  the  Deputies  sided  with  the  :  rioters.  A 
Monsieur  d'Argenson  dared  to  speak  timidly  in  the 
Chamber  one  day  of  the  reported  massacre  of  Protes- 
tants in  the  South  ;  but  a  violent  tumult  at  once  arose 
to  contradict  him.  "  I  have  not  stated  facts,"  he  said, 
as  though  daunted  by  the  disturbance  his  words  had 
caused ;    u  I   have   not    established   allegations  ;    I    said 


282  Louis  XVIII 

that  I  had  heard  uncertain  and  contradictory  rumours. 
...  It  is  the  very  vagueness  of  these  rumours  which 
renders  a  report  from  the  Ministry  on  the  state  of  the 
country  necessary."  *  However,  Monsieur  d'Argenson 
was  not  allowed  to  proceed,  and  was  called  to  order 
for  having  mentioned,  even  in  a  tentative  manner,  facts 
which  were  known  by  every  one,  but  which  the  ultras 
were  determined  to  conceal. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  the  Russian  envoy 
Pozzo  di  Borgo,  who  represented  Powers  which  were 
friendly  to  France,  and  wished,  if  she  would  cease  to 
menace  the  peace  of  Europe,  to  restore  her  to  her 
former  position,  watched  with  disgust  and  indigna- 
tion the  follies  of  the  extreme  party,  which,  if 
allowed  to  take  their  course,  were  certain  to  bring 
about  another  Revolution,  another  intervention  of 
the  Great  Powers,  and  possibly,  as  a  last  resource,  the 
dismemberment  or  permanent  crippling  of  a  country 
which  would  not  learn  to  govern  herself,  and  was  the 
source  of  constant  trouble  to  Europe.  The  Russian 
Minister,  Nesselrode,  did  not  mince  his  words  when  he 
wrote  to  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  that  devoted,  if  interested, 
adherent  of  the  Bourbon  cause  :  "  I  picture  to  myself 
your  tribulations,  my  dear  Pozzo,  in  the  midst  of 
those  madmen  during  their  ridiculous  debates  in  the 
two  Chambers."  And  in  another  place  he  says :  "  As 
you  are  performing  miracles,  impart  a  little  common 
sense  to  Monsieur  and  to  his  sons."2 

In  this  last  remark  justice  was  not  done  to  the 
Due  d'Angouleme,  who  was,  like  Louis  XVIII,  broad- 
minded  and  moderate  in  his  politics,  but  was  too 
timid  and  full  of  respect  for  his  father,  and  too  much 

1  Guizot  Memoires,  vol.  i.  p.  107. 

2  Correspondance  de  Nesselrode  et  dc  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  vol.  i.  p.  236. 


Ultra-Royalist    Reaction  283 

in  subjection  to  his  strong-minded  wife,  to  dissent 
from  them  decidedly,  though  they  had  in  reality  no 
influence  over  him.  "  When  Madame  began  one  of 
her  ultra-Royalist  harangues,  he  used  to  cut  her  short," 
says  Madame  de  Boigne  ;  "  '  My  dear  Princess  '  " — it 
was  thus  that  he  addressed  her — "  '  we  will  not  talk  of 
it ;  we  can  neither  agree  nor  persuade  one  another.'  "  1 

Therefore,  there  was  one  exception  to  the  persistent 
opposition  Louis  XVIII  received  from  his  family; 
though  the  timid  agreement  of  the  commonplace  Due 
d'Angouleme  was  not  much  support  against  Monsieur's 
energetic,  if  inconsistent  tactics,  and  Madame's  deter- 
mined attitude. 

One  good  thing,  at  any  rate,  was  done  by  the 
ultras  of  1 81 5 — they  accomplished  the  downfall  of 
Fouche.  He  could  not  stand  against  their  deter- 
mined onslaught.  In  vain,  to  show  his  Royalist  zeal, 
had  he  drawn  up  a  list  of  over  a  hundred  persons, 
who  were  either  to  be  brought  to  judgment  or  to  be 
exiled,  for  their  participation  in  the  treason  of  the 
Hundred  Days.  The  list  was  not  nearly  long  enough 
to  satisfy  the  ultras  ;  and  even  when  cut  down  by 
Fouche's  horrified  colleagues — Decazes  taking  an 
active  part  in  the  matter — it  excited  intense  indigna- 
tion against  him  among  the  moderates,  as  well  as  alarm 
among  the  Revolutionaries  throughout  the  country. 
Such  a  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  man  who  had 
been  Napoleon's  principal  Minister  during  the  Hun- 
dred Days,  was  not  only  abominable  but  ridiculous. 
It  was  reported  that  Carnot,  his  comrade  and  subordi- 
nate during  the  short-lived  Imperial  interregnum, 
finding  himself  exiled  to  a  part  of  France  which 
was  to  be  indicated  by  the  Head  of  the  Police,  asked  : 

1  Trans.  Madame  de  Boigne's  Mcmoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  209. 


284  Louis  XVIII 

"Where  do  you  wish  me  to  go,  traitor?"  and  was 
answered,  "Where  you  wish,  idiot." 

A  peaceful,  permanent  Government  seemed  im- 
possible, and  a  sense  of  insecurity  rested  on  every  one, 
while  Fouche,  the. stormy  petrel  of  intrigue,  treachery, 
and  revolution,  was  in  power  ;  and  a  sigh  of  relief  was 
uttered  when,  after  he  had  read  a  report  in  which, 
apparently  to  keep  well  with  the  Revolutionary  party, 
he  gave  an  exaggerated  account  of  the  terrible  condition 
of  France,  the  new  Deputies  insisted  on  his  retire- 
ment, and  he  was  made  Ambassador  at  Dresden. 
Louis  XVIII  was  delighted  to  be  quit  of  him.  "  God 
be  praised !  "  he  exclaimed,  referring  to  his  niece,  "  the 
poor  Duchess  will  no  longer  be  in  danger  of  meeting 
that  odious  figure."  1 

Talleyrand  soon  followed,  though  he  was  determined 
to  keep  in  power  if  possible,  and  endeavoured  to  curry 
favour  with  the  Royalists  by  insisting  that  it  was  he 
who  had  dismissed  Fouche\  "  But  when  will  the  King 
send  the  other  away  ?"  asked  the  deputies.  "What 
other  ?  "     "  Eh  !   Monsieur  de  Talleyrand."  2 

The  King  did  not  trust  his  First  Minister,  and 
disliked  him  personally,  though  he  was  fond  of  jesting 
with  him,  and  had  earned  from  Talleyrand,  who  was 
not  always  winner  in  the  contests  of  wit  which  passed 
between  him  and  Louis  XVIII,  the  sobriquet  of  the 
Roi  Nichard,  or  the  Roi  des  Niches  (the  joking  King, 
King  of  Jokes).  Possibly  Talleyrand  was  not  aware 
of  his  Majesty's  aversion  for  him,  as  Louis  XVIII  had 
inherited  from  his  ancestors  the  useful  art  in  despotic 
statecraft  of  being  specially  charming  to  any  Minister 
with  whom  he  was  displeased.     However,  Talleyrand 

1  Pasqmer  Mc'moi'res,  vol.  Hi.  p.  393. 
*  Vitrolles  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  221. 


Fall  of  Fouche  and  Talleyrand         285 

now  gave  the  King  the  wished-for  opportunity  for 
showing  that  he  could  dispense  with  his  services, 
for  finding  his  position  under  the  onslaught  of  two 
Chambers  of  ultra-Royalist  Deputies  well-nigh  intoler- 
able, he  threatened  to  resign,  unless  the  King  would 
promise  to  support  his  Ministry  through  thick  and 
thin. 

His  tone  was  peremptory — which  was  always  mis- 
taken policy  when  addressing  Louis  XVIII — and  the 
King  considered  that  personal  intervention  would  not 
be  constitutional,  and  would  be  fatal  to  his  dignity. 
He  looked  up  at  the  ceiling  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said  very  gently  : 

"  Well,  then,  I  will  do  what  they  do  in  England. 
I  will  get  some  one  to  form  another  Ministry."  l 

So  for  the  second  time  he  defied  the  powerful 
Minister.  The  King  showed  the  same  calmness  all 
through  the  affair,  which  caused  the  utmost  excitement 
in  France.  He  was  told  that  some  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  not  knowing  what  had  happened,  had  come 
to  see  him. 

"  But  it  is  done,"  answered  the  King  to  Vitrolles, 
who  tells  the  story. 

"  I  did  not  understand,"  says  Vitrolles  ;  and  I  began 
to  explain  the  motives  and  object  of  the  Ministry,  who 
were  determined  to  retire  unless  the  King  would  give 
them  special  support. 

"  But  1  tell  you  that  it  is  done,"  the  King  began 
again. 

"  Your  Majesty  has  perhaps  not  heard  that  three 
of  his  Ministers  are  waiting.   ..." 

"  I  repeat  to  you,  for  the  third  time,  that  it  is  done." 

And,  answering  my  look  of  astonishment,  the  King 

1   Vitrolles  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  228. 


286  Louis  XVIII 

continued,  "  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  asked  me  the 
question  himself,  and  I  told  him  I  should  form  another 
Ministry." 

"  What,  Sire  !   is  it  decided  ?  " 

"  Absolutely  decided,"  he  answered,  with  the  most 
perfect  tranquillity.1 

The  King  at  once  applied  to  the  Due  de  Richelieu, 
and  begged  him  to  take  the  leadership  of  the  new 
Cabinet.  The  Duke  had  already  refused  to  form  one 
of  the  last  Ministry  by  following  Blacas  as  head  of 
the  Maison  du  Roi,  and  it  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  he  was  now  persuaded  by  the  King  to 
come  forward  ;  his  repugnance  only  being  at  last  over- 
come by  the  Czar's  promise  to  him  that  if  he  were 
at  the  head  of  affairs,  France  should  be  defended  as 
far  as  possible  from  the  depredating  intentions  of 
certain  of  the  Great  Powers. 

Although  the  Due  de  Richelieu  was  of  aristocratic 
birth  and  was  an  Emigre,  having  entered  the  service 
of  Russia  when  driven  out  of  his  own  country  by  the 
Revolution,  and  having  had  the  government  of  the 
Crimea  and  of  the  countries  adjoining  it  confided  to 
him,  he  was  welcomed  by  the  moderate  party  as  a 
known  adversary  to  the  exaggerated  pretensions  of 
the  ultra-Royalists  ;  while  his  generous  disinterested- 
ness, his  modesty,  and  devotion  to  duty,  had  won  him 
general  respect.  The  King  could  not  have  made  a 
better  choice  of  a  leader  for  the  Government. 

Decazes  was  substituted  for  Fouche  as  Minister  of 
Police,  while  Richelieu  took  the  post  of  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  place  of  Talleyrand. 
Mistakes  were  naturally  inevitable  in  the  forming  of 
a    Cabinet    by    two    men    who,    like    the    King    and 

1   Vitrolles  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  226. 


The   Due   de   Richelieu  287 

Richelieu,  had  been  for  many  years  exiled  from  their 
country  ;  and  there  was  a  certain  substratum  of  truth 
in  Talleyrand's  sarcastic  comment  that  Richelieu  was 
"  l'homme  de  France  qui  connait  le  mieux  la  Crimee  "  ; 
but  on  the  whole  the  new  Ministers  were  remarkable 
for  their  clear-sighted  views  and  moderate  opinions,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  foolishly  extremist  policy  of 
the  Deputies  with  whom  they  were  destined  to  work. 


CHAPTER   XV 

Question  of  dismemberment  of  France — King's  patriotism — His  letter 
— Terms  eventually  granted — Monsieur's  intrigues — King's  affec- 
tion for  Decazes — His  letter  to  him — The  Session  of  1815 — Ney's 
execution — Lavalette's  escape — The  ultra-Royalists — Dissolution 
of  the  "  Chambre  Introuvable" — Marriage  of  the  Due  de  Berry — 
Chateaubriand  s  pamphlet — The  Elections — Blacas'  sudden  appear- 
ance in  Paris — King's  firmness— Painful  family  scenes — Vitrolles' 
Secret  Note — Conspiracy  "  du  bord  de  l'eau  " — Monsieur's  disgrace 
— Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

THE  crisis  was  terrible  ;  for  both  at  Berlin  and  at 
Vienna  the  advisability  of  a  dismemberment  of 
France  was  discussed  in  diplomatic  circles,  and  even 
the  English  Cabinet  considered  that  it  might  be  ex- 
pedient to  deprive  her  of  Louis  XIV's  conquests  ; 
while  the  Netherlands,  and  the  smaller  States  of 
Germany  and  Sardinia,  were  eager  to  seize  any  booty 
which  might  increase  their  strength  and  importance. 

France  has  surely  never  quite  realised  the  debt  of 
gratitude  she  owes  to  Louis  XVIII,  for  the  firmness 
and  patriotism  with  which  he  confronted  this  terrible 
imbroglio,  when  weakness  and  vacillation  would  have 
involved  his  country  in  ruin.  The  dismissal  of  Talley- 
rand had  been  a  wise  measure,  for  Russia  was  the 
only  Power  friendly  to  France  ;  and  the  Czar,  who  had 
formerly  felt  the  greatest  admiration  for  the  French 
Foreign  Minister,  had  been  bitterly  hostile  to  him 
since  he  had  discovered  the  secret,  and — in  his  opinion 

— treacherous,  treaty  formed  by  him  with  Austria  and 

288 


The  King's  Courageous  Patriotism       289 

England  ;  so  that  the  presence  of  Talleyrand  in  the 
Cabinet  had  become  a  great  hindrance  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  country.  It  is  indeed  probable  that  the 
Czar,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  promised  to  work 
energetically  for  France's  interests  with  the  Allies  if 
the  Due  de  Richelieu  would  consent  to  become 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  may  through  Pozzo  di 
Borgo  have  made  the  removal  of  Talleyrand  a  con- 
dition of  his  according  help  to  France  in  her  present 
desperate  condition.  At  any  rate,  when,  before  Talley- 
rand's fall,  Louis  XVIII  at  the  Russian  Ambassador's 
suggestion  penned  the  following  letter,  the  Russian 
Monarch  was  without  doubt  aware  that  his  enemy's 
continuance  in  power  would  not  be  of  long  duration. 

"Paris,  11/23  September  181 5. 

"  Monsieur  my  Brother, — 

"  It  is  in  the  bitterness  of  my  heart  that  I 
have  recourse  to  your  Imperial  Majesty,  to  express  to 
you  openly  the  pain  caused  me  by  the  perusal  of  the 
propositions  made  to  my  Ministry  by  the  four  united 
Cabinets.  What  affected  me  profoundly  and  makes  me 
despair  for  unhappy  France,  is  the  crushing  idea  that 
your  Majesty,  on  whom  I  founded  my  hopes,  appears 
to  have  authorised  the  communication  which  has  been 
addressed  officially  to  me. 

"  You  have  increased  my  trouble  even  more,  Sire, 
by  expressing  verbally  in  the  interview  I  had  yesterday 
with  your  Majesty,  opinions  differing  little  from  the 
terms  of  the  protocol,  those  terms  which  place  me 
in  an  even  more  cruel  situation  because  I  had  not 
expected  them  from  my  Allies. 

"  A  sentiment  of  justice,  fortified  by  the  whole 
strength  of  my  gratitude,  had,  in  truth,  convinced   me 

19 


29o  Louis  XVIII 

of  the  necessity  of  submitting  to  great  sacrifices.  I 
felt  the  necessity  of  giving  up  the  surplus  territory 
which  had  devolved  on  France  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  ; 
I  realised  the  importance  of  consenting  to  the  tem- 
porary occupation  of  several  strong  places,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  new  Constitutional  Government  from  the 
baleful  influence  of  blind  passions  ;  I  could  not  dis- 
regard the  duty  of  indemnifying  the  Powers,  who  had 
armed  for  the  saving  of  my  country,  for  the  expenses 
of  war. 

"  But  could  I  ever  have  believed  that  instead  of  these 
conditions,  which  were  already  sufficiently  onerous, 
others  would  be  proposed  to  me  which  would  join  ruin 
to  dishonour  ?  No,  Sire,  I  cannot  yet  persuade  myself 
that  your  decision  can  be  irrevocable.  The  confidence 
inspired  in  me  by  your  great  and  generous  soul,  makes 
me  still  refuse  to  believe  the  sad  truth. 

"  But  if  it  be  otherwise  ;  if  I  have  the  misfortune  to 
deceive  myself;  if  France  cannot  hope  for  the  re- 
vocation of  an  edict  the  object  of  which  is  her  degrada- 
tion ;  if  your  Majesty  remains  inflexible,  and  you 
refuse  to  use  with  your  august  Allies  the  influence 
conferred  on  you  by  virtue,  friendship,  and  glory 
shared  in  common  ;  then  I  hesitate  no  longer  to 
declare  to  you,  Sire,  that  I  shall  refuse  to  be  the 
instrument  of  the  ruin  of  my  people,  and  that  I  will 
leave  the  throne,  rather  than  condescend  to  tarnish  its 
ancient  splendour  by  an  unexampled  abasement. 

"  Your  Majesty  will  realise  without  doubt  from  the 
frankness  of  this  avowal  that  it  is  founded  on  an 
immovable  resolution,  on  the  greatness  of  my  trouble, 
as  well  as  on  the  constancy  of  the  feeling  with  which  I 
am,  etc.   ... 

1  Correspondence  of  Pozzo  di  Borgo  and  Nesselrode,  vol.  i.  p.  209. 


Letter  to  the  Czar  291 

It  was  owing  to  this  letter  that  the  Allies  abandoned 
their  first  rigorous  demands,  which,  if  carried  out, 
would,  as  Pozzo  di  Borgo  remarks,  have  effaced  France 
altogether  from  the  political  map  of  Europe.1 
Eventually,  thanks  to  the  joint  endeavours  of  the 
Czar  and  of  Richelieu,  the  conditions  accorded  to  her 
were,  though  terribly  heavy,  not  absolutely  ruinous. 
They  comprised  sundry  sacrifices  of  territory,  the 
payment  of  an  indemnity  of  seven  hundred  millions  of 
francs,  and  the  maintenance  for  five  years  of  an  army 
of  occupation  consisting  of  1 50,000  men,  under  the 
command  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  During  these 
five  years  France  was  to  be  in  a  state  of  tutelage, 
it  being  arranged  that  the  representatives  of  the  four 
Great  Powers  should  meet  secretly  every  week  to  dis- 
cuss her  internal  organisation,  and  that,  acting  in  uni- 
son, they  should  control  and  advise  her  Government, 
being  ready  to  employ  force  if  necessary,  or  to  delay 
their  evacuation  of  France  should  she  fail  to  avoid 
the  dangers  of  ultra-Royalism  on  one  side,  or  of 
Imperialism  or  Jacobinism  on  the  other. 

The  position  of  affairs  was  hard  and  humiliating,  and 
some  excuse  may  be  found  for  the  fury  of  the  ultra- 
Royalists  against  Napoleon  and  his  supporters,  who 
had  brought  their  country  to  the  verge  of  ruin. 
Louis  XVIIFs  anguish  was  great  ;  he  burst  into  tears 
as  he  implored  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  who  loathed 
putting  his  signature  as  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  to 
a  treaty  he  considered  dishonouring,  not  to  desert  him 
at  this  terrible  juncture. 

Nevertheless,  Louis  XVII I's  courage  did  not  al- 
together desert  him.  u  King  of  any  other  country," 
he  said  proudly,   "  I  should   have  lost  hope  ;   but  the 

1  Correspondence  of  Pozzo  di  Borgo  and  Nesselrode,  vol.  ii.  p.  206. 


292  Louis  XVIII 

King  of  France  never  despairs  when  he  has  to  deal 
with  Frenchmen  ;  let  them  all  unite,  and  our  mis- 
fortunes will  soon  be  over."  1 

This  recommendation  was  admirable  ;  but  no  one 
seemed  in  the  least  inclined  to  follow  it,  the  country 
being  rent  by  bitter  dissensions,  and  each  party  im- 
plicating all  other  parties  but  itself  in  the  mistakes 
which  had  brought  the  nation  to  the  verge  of  ruin. 

The  King's  worst  foes  were  those  of  his  household. 
Monsieur  was  absolutely  impracticable.  "  Make  him 
understand  once  for  all  that  the  Powers  are  not  there 
to  support  his  follies,  and  to  permit  him  to  mount  the 
throne  with  such  a  senseless  system  of  reaction," 2 
wrote  the  Russian  Minister  Nesselrode  to  Pozzo  di 
Borgo.  This  was  again  good  advice,  but  impossible  to 
carry  into  execution,  for  Monsieur  could  not  or  would 
not  see  the  real  position  of  affairs,  and  withstood  and 
hampered  his  brother's  Government  on  all  occasions. 
He  wished  to  form  a  Ministry  of  pure  Royalists ; 
"  And  if  these  gentlemen  had  full  power,"  remarked 
the    King,    "  I   should    myself  be    eventually    purified 

>»   3 

away. 

Monsieur  was  also  most  anxious  to  increase  the 
influence  of  the  priests,  and  if  possible  to  reinstate  the 
Emigres  in  the  possession  of  their  estates,  while  in- 
demnifying the  present  occupiers.  It  was  in  vain  that 
the  King,  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  and  Wellington  interviewed 
him  at  different  times,  and  tried  to  inculcate  wisdom  ; 
he  had  forgotten  nothing  and  had  learnt  nothing  from 
the  march  of  events  ;  he  was  determined  to  make 
France    return    to    the    reign   of  the   Ancien  Regime. 

1  See  Crousaz-Cretet,  Life  of  Richelieu,  p.  179. 

2  Correspondence  of  Pozzo  di  Borgo   and  of  Nesselrode,    vol.  i 

P-  313. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  272. 


Political  and  Family  Dissensions         293 

During  a  conversation  with  him,  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton, who  was  astonished  at  this  infatuation,  said  :  "  In 
this  case  you  take  me  for  an  idiot,  for  it  is  my  business 
to  study  France,  and  your  Royal  Highness  evidently 
supposes  that  I  do  not  realise  her  feelings  or  her 
condition."  Monsieur  answered  cheerfully  :  "  You 
foreigners  do  not  understand  men  ;  I  am  better  in- 
formed, and  my  party  is  certainly  the  strongest  "  ;  and 
it  was  in  vain  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  at  the  end 
of  his  resources  in  the  way  of  argument,  remarked  that 
he  had  supposed  himself  to  be  speaking  to  the  successor 
to  the  throne,  and  not  to  the  chief  of  a  faction  or 
a  party.1 

Louis  XVIIl's  position  was  isolated  and  beset  with 
thorns.  From  all  sides  warnings  reached  him  about 
the  dangers  into  which  Monsieur  was  hurrying  the 
country,  yet  the  unfortunate  King  was  powerless  to 
prevent  the  continual  intrigues  with  which  his  brother 
surrounded  himself,  while  he  knew  that  if  ultra-Royalism 
and  its  concomitant  disturbances  were  to  gain  ground, 
there  was  fear  that  the  Allies  would  interfere,  and  that 
the  foreign  invasion  which  irritated  the  country  almost 
past  bearing,  would  be  continued  past  the  specified 
time.  Therefore  he  opposed  Monsieur  firmly,  in  spite 
of  the  sorrowful  looks,  the  remonstrances,  and  the 
Cassandra-like  prophecies  of  his  family,  who  considered 
that  he  was  conducting  them  to  ruin.  His  frequent 
attacks  of  gout,  accompanied  by  fever,  gave  much  cause 
for  alarm  to  the  friends  of  France,  in  view  of  Monsieur's 
complete  incapacity  for  reigning  over  the  country  ;  and 
the  weakness  of  his  health,  combined  with  his  loneliness, 
and  the  continual  petty  persecution  to  which  he  was 
subjected,  must  surely  have  caused  him  eventually  to 
1  Pozzo  di  Borgo  Correspondence,  vol.  ii.  p.   125. 


294  Louis  XVIII 

bow  to  Monsieur's  determined  will,  had  he  not  most 
fortunately  begun  to  feel  a  warm  attachment  for  his 
young  Minister  of  Police. 

This  attachment  grew  apace,  and  Decazes  soon  be- 
came the  King's  "  dear  son,"  to  whom  he  confided  all 
his  troubles,  and  with  whom  he  interchanged  thoughts 
and  feelings,  and  discussed  questions  of  policy.  There 
was  a  certain  sentimentality  about  this  friendship  ;  in 
his  letters  the  King  was  "  ton  Louis,"  the  Comte 
d'Artois  was  styled  Decazes'  "  uncle,"  and  the  Due 
d'Angouleme  was  indicated  by  the  abbreviation  Sp., 
which  stood  for  Spesima. 

The  King's  affection  for  his  young  favourite  was 
truly  fatherly,  as  it  caused  him  to  be  most  unsel- 
fishly anxious  for  his  happiness.  The  young  Minister 
of  Police  had  been  left  a  widower  after  a  few  months 
of  married  life,  and  Louis  XVIII  arranged  with  his 
sister  Madame  Princeteau,  whom  he  called  "  the  good 
angel,"  a  grand  alliance  for  his  benefit ;  and  brought 
about  a  marriage  between  him  and  Mademoiselle 
Saint-Aulaire,  who  at  sixteen  years  of  age  was  one  of 
the  greatest  matches  in  France.  The  King  was  not, 
however,  blindly  subservient  to  Decazes,  often  pur- 
suing his  own  policy  in  opposition  to  that  of  his 
favourite. 

Naturally,  however,  Decazes  wielded  a  strong  in- 
fluence over  him,  and  this  increased  as  time  went  on, 
though  it  showed  itself  less  decidedly  in  initiating 
any  particular  policy,  than  in  supporting  the  King  in 
the  painful  work  of  carrying  on  the  policy  dictated 
by  his  own  sagacity.  Naturally  also  the  Royal  Family 
hated  the  new  favourite  even  more  bitterly  than  they 
had  detested  Blacas,  whose  political  views  had  at  least 
been   identical  with  their   own.      Some  of  the  King's 


From  an  engraving  by  P.  Toschi,  after  a  painting  by  F.  Gfrari. 

THE    COMTE    DECAZES. 
p.  294] 


His  Affection  for  Decazes  295 

confidential  letters  to  Decazes  give  an  amusing  account 
of  the  position  of  affairs.     In  one  of  them  he  says  : 

March  7,  1819. 

"  I  feel  well,  my  dear  son,  but  my  morning  has  not 
been  cheerful.  In  the  first  place,  Sp.'s  half  [the 
Duchesse  d'Angouleme]  was  looking  even  sadder  than 
yesterday,  and  all  the  other  faces  were  the  same.  Your 
Uncle  [Monsieur]  looked  as  he  did  yesterday.  He 
has  not  announced  that  he  intends  to  pay  me  a  visit  ; 
I  suppose  he  is  reserving  himself  for  to-morrow, 
between  the  time  when  every  one  leaves,  and  when 
I  have  to  receive  the  ladies.  Angles  has  just  gone  out, 
blacker  than  his  hat,  announcing  misfortunes  on  all 
sides,  particularly  the  terrible  elections  at  Grenoble, 
but  allowing  that  all  the  harm  has  come  from  Barthe- 
16my's  proposition.  I  told  him  that  with  strength  and 
determination  there  would  be  nothing  to  fear.  But 
this  has  taken  me  away  from  my  morning  ;  I  come 
back  to  it.  I  have  seen  him  [the  Due  de  Berry,  whose 
impulsive  and  irresponsible  sayings  and  doings  often 
caused  him  to  be  in  disgrace  with  the  King].  I  was  cold. 
Nevertheless  I  spoke  to  him,  but  as  I  do  to  everybody. 
I  asked  him  for  a  pinch  of  snuff,  but  only  one,  while  I 
generally  ask  for  several  ;  and  yet  God  knows  that  his 
snuff  never  was  as  good  as  to-day.  I  do  not  know 
whether  he  was  piqued  by  my  coldness,  or  whether  his 
conscience  pricked  him  (his  character  makes  one  or  the 
other  supposition  equally  probable),  but  he  did  not, 
as  he  does  always,  come  near  me,  and  when  I  dismissed 
the  company,  he  hurried  out,  as  he  never  does.  I  will 
not  hide  from  you  the  fact  that  it  cost  me  sorrow  to 
act  in  this  way,  and  that  when  I  was  alone  I  found 
my    eyes  wet ;  but   one   must   rise   superior    to  these 


296  Louis  XVIII 

weaknesses,  and  I  think  that  now  the  thing  is  once 
marked,  it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  approach  me 
before  we  kill  the  fatted  calf,  or  shake  the  dust  off 
our  feet,  according  to  the  line  he  takes.  To  express 
myself  more  clearly,  I  think  that  to-morrow  he  will 
ask  for  an  explanation,  and  that  this  must  not  be 
put   off."  * 

The  letter  continues  in  the  same  confidential  strain, 
treating  of  the  minutest  details  of  the  King's  intercourse 
with  each  person  he  meets,  and  of  his  views  and  feelings 
on  every  subject  which  comes  up  ;  so  that  it  can  easily 
be  seen  that  though  Decazes  was — unlike  Blacas — 
tactful,  conciliatory,  discreet,  and  possessed  the  gift  of 
managing  men,  it  was  impossible,  from  the  peculiar 
exigencies  of  his  position,  for  him  to  avoid  arousing  the 
most  bitter  hatred  among  the  King's  relations. 

The  full  force  of  this  hostility  was  only,  however,  to 
show  itself  later  ;  in  1815,  the  burning  question  of  the 
day  was  centred  in  the  great  struggle  between  Richelieu, 
Decazes,  and  the  rest  of  the  Ministry  of  moderates, 
supported  not  only  by  the  King,  but  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  great  European  Powers  ;  and  a  reactionary 
and  strongly  ultra-Royalist  Chamber  of  Deputies. 

Of  the  four  measures  discussed  during  the  Session 
of  1 815,  the  most  important  treated  of  proposed  excep- 
tions to  the  law  of  general  amnesty  for  political  offences. 
These  exceptions  the  King  and  the  Ministry  were 
anxious  to  make  as  few  as  possible,  while  the  ultra- 
Royalists  clamoured  for  blood.  "  The  Hundred  Days 
are  costing  us  more  than  eighteen  hundred  millions," 
said  one  of  their  number,  "  and  what  have  we  got  for 

1  See  Pieces  Historiques,  Ernest  Daudet :  "  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due 
Decazes,"  p.  451. 


The  Question  of  Amnesty  297 

all  that  ?  The  heads  of  two  men,  and  those  only  with 
much  trouble."  1  The  two  heads  sacrificed  were  those 
of  Marechal  Ney  and  Monsieur  Labedoyere. 

The  Marechal,  who  had  promised  the  King  to  bring 
Napoleon  back  in  an  iron  cage  and  then  had  deserted 
to  him,  was  without  doubt,  strictly  speaking,  a  traitor, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  his  execution,  which  was 
demanded  by  the  Allies,  could  have  been  prevented. 
Nevertheless,  his  death  was  a  great  misfortune  to  the 
Bourbon  cause,  and  the  King  was  no  doubt  right  when, 
on  hearing  the  news  of  his  capture,  he  said,  "  Wretched 
man  !  In  letting  himself  be  caught,  he  is  going  to 
do  us  more  harm  than  he  did  when  he  went  over  to 
Bonaparte  on  March   13th!"2 

As  the  regicide  Fouche  not  only  escaped  punishment, 
but  was  rewarded  by  a  seat  in  the  Ministry,  it  seemed 
a  strange  anomaly  that  the  man  who  was  known  by 
Napoleon  as  the  "  brave  des  braves,"  should  lose  his 
life  for  the  impulse  by  which  he  yielded  to  the  over- 
mastering power  exercised  by  Napoleon  over  those  who 
had  served  under  him.  The  King  realised  that  it  was 
weakness,  and  not  deliberate  treachery,  which  had 
caused  Ney's  defection,  and  would  have  liked  to  save 
him  ;  but  did  not  dare  to  do  this,  fearing  that  the 
ultra-Royalists  might,  in  their  fury,  wreck  the  Ministry  ; 
and  that  if  they  were  to  succeed  in  seizing  the  reins  of 
government,  the  Allies  would,  in  fear  of  their  ex- 
travagances, refuse  to  rid  France  of  the  presence  of  the 
foreign  armies.  "  Ney  went  out  of  my  room  faithful 
to  me  ;  he  intended  to  be  faithful  to  the  end,"  he  said, 
"  but  circumstances  were  too  strong  for  him."  3 

1  Trans,  de  Boigne  Memoir es,  vol.  ii.  p.  179. 

2  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Deeazes,  p.  74. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  75. 


29 8  Louis  XVIII 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  in  the  eyes  of 
the  ultra-Royalists,  the  Hundred  Days  had  not  been 
the  irresistible  rush  of  a  discontented  and  disappointed 
Army  towards  an  adored  leader,  but  the  result  of  a  care- 
fully prepared  conspiracy,  ramifications  of  which  spread 
over  the  country,  and  were  deeply  rooted.  They  were 
hysterical  with  terror  and  indignation,  and  they  craved 
for  exemplary  punishment  on  their  enemies.  The 
drawing-rooms  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  were 
specially  pitiless  ;  and  women  in  particular  vied  with 
each  other  in  the  sanguinary  violence  of  their  language. 
It  was  impossible  to  save  the  Marechal,  and  an 
attempt  to  induce  the  Duke  of  Wellington  to  interfere 
on  his  behalf  was  unavailing.  When  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court  read  his  sentence  to  him,  and  began  to  enumerate 
all  his  titles  :  "  Leave  them  out,"  said  the  Marechal, 
"say  simply  Michel  Ney,  soon  to  become  a  little  dust." 
He  was  executed  on  December  7th,  1815. 

Still  the  ultra-Royalist  thirst  for  blood  was  unslaked. 
The  Comte  de  Lavalette,  who  had  been  Postmaster- 
General  to  Napoleon,  and  had  resumed  his  functions 
during  the  Hundred  Days,  was  on  trial  for  his  life, 
and  Richelieu  and  Decazes  did  all  they  could  to  induce 
the  King  to  interpose  on  his  behalf.  Before  his  arrest, 
Decazes  had  tried  to  warn  him  to  leave  the  country  ; 
but,  sharing  with  Ney,  Labedoyere,  and  with  others  of 
that  day,  a  foolhardiness  which  possibly  had  its  origin  in 
a  sense  of  the  fleeting  and  uncertain  condition  of  the 
Government,  he  had  refused  to  avail  himself  of  the 
opportunity  for  escape  held  out  to  him.  Now  he  was 
condemned  to  die  ;  and  though  the  King  had  been 
persuaded  to  grant  Madame  de  Lavalette  an  interview, 
he  could  hold  out  to  her  no  hope  of  saving  her 
husband's    life.       The  ultra-Royalists  were   so   strong 


Executions  and  Fury  299 

that  it  was  necessary  to  appease  them  by  the  sacrifice 
of  some  victims,  but  the  King  was  determined  to  make 
them  as  few  as  possible.  "  Find  some  way  so  that  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  shall  not  embarrass  us  about  it, 
and  I  will  grant  his  pardon,"  l  he  said.  Decazes  then 
proposed  that  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  should  be 
persuaded  to  intercede  for  the  prisoner,  hoping  that  her 
mediation  might  silence  the  clamours  of  the  ultras. 
When  approached  by  the  Duke  de  Richelieu  on  the 
subject,  she  showed  evident  emotion,  and  promised  to 
ask  the  King  after  lunch  on  the  same  day  for  Lavalette's 
pardon.  However,  during  the  interval,  the  ultra- 
Royalists  persuaded  her  not  to  interfere,  and  she  said 
nothing.  When  the  Due  de  Richelieu  came  to  the 
King  the  next  day,  he  found  him  waiting  anxiously, 
and  his  first  words  were  : 

"  Well,  my  niece  never  spoke  ;  you  must  have  mis- 
understood her." 

"  No,  Sire  ;  I  had  her  absolute  promise." 

"  Go  and  see  her  then,  and  try  to  induce  her  to  act. 
I  will  wait  till  she  is  ready  to  come."  2 

But  the  Princess  never  appeared,  and  even  tore  her- 
self roughly  from  the  grasp  of  the  unfortunate  Madame 
de  Lavalette,  who  waited  to  see  her  on  her  way  from 
Mass.  The  ultra-Royalists  now  felt  certain  of  their 
prey,  and  a  howl  of  execration  greeted  the  news  that 
Lavalette,  assisted  by  his  heroic  wife,  had  escaped  from 
prison. 

"  Little  wretch  ! '  cried  one  of  the  ladies  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain  when  she  heard  that  Mademoi- 
selle de  Lavalette  had  helped  to  save  her  father. 

"  You  will  see  that  they  will  say  that  it  is  we  who 

1  Souve?iirs  du  Baron  dc  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  232. 
3  Trans,  de  Boigne  Me'tnoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 


300  Louis  XVIII 

have  done   it," *    was   the  King's    comment   when   he 
heard  the  news  ;  and,  as  usual,  he  was  right. 

"My  sisters,  who  see  a  great  many  Deputies,"  writes 
Richelieu  to  Decazes,  "  tell  me  that  they  are  enchanted 
with  what  has  happened,  as  it  has  given  them,  they  say, 
a  good  opportunity  of  falling  on  the  Ministry,  especially 
on  you  and  the  Keeper  of  the  Seals."  2  Speaking  of 
the  measure  of  general  amnesty  which  the  Ministry  had 
brought  forward  directly  after  Ney's  execution,  the 
Due  de  Richelieu  continues  : 

"  They  announce  that  the  law  on  amnesty  will  only 
pass  when  amended  as  they  choose,  and  that  the  law  of 
elections  will  be  crossed  out  altogether.  We  shall  be 
crossed  out,  too,  shortly,  and  can  congratulate  or  con- 
dole together  about  it  as  you  prefer.  But  my  fate  will 
be  the  same  as  yours." 

The  situation  was  curious,  for  the  so-called  ultra- 
Royalists  were  hardly  Royalists  at  all,  but  were  a 
compact  body  fighting  against  King,  Ministry,  and 
the  great  moderate  mass  of  the  nation,  with  the 
object  of  getting  the  power  into  their  own  hands. 
Ostensibly  they  wished  to  return  to  the  old  order  of 
things,  but  often  the  methods  they  employed  were 
revolutionary  ;  and  sometimes  they  were  by  some 
strange  anomaly  apparently  the  defenders  of  freedom, 
while  the  Ministry,  its  real  supporters,  appeared  to 
circumscribe  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  distracted  country  was  harassed  by  the 
harshness  of  foreign  troops,  and  the  "  White  Terror  "  was 
still  in  progress  in  the  provinces,  where  risings  among 
the  Bonapartists  and  supposed  Revolutionaries  were 
exaggerated,  and  then  punished  with  exemplary  severity 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  102. 
s  Ibid. 


Finish  of  the  "Chambre  Introuvable "     3or 

by  the  agency  of  the  ultra-Royalists.  One  victory  was 
won  by  the  moderates  :  they  passed  the  law  of  general 
amnesty  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ultra-Royalists 
brought  into  force  a  measure  ordering  the  restitution 
of  any  ecclesiastical  property  which  was  not  already 
sold,  thus  returning  to  the  spirit  of  the  Ancien  Regime, 
and  inflicting  a  crushing  defeat  on  the  Ministry,  who 
had  wished  to  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  clergy  by 
paying  them  a  yearly  pension.  The  ultras  celebrated 
their  victory  by  insulting  the  President  of  the  Chamber, 
Monsieur  Laine,  and  disputing  his  authority  on  a  point 
of  order,  so  that  he  felt  obliged  to  retire  from  his 
position. 

On  April  29th,  1 8i  6,  the  turbulent  Session  came  to 
an  end  ;  and  the  opening  of  the  next  Session  was  fixed 
for  October   1.      However,  the  representatives  of  the 
Great   Powers  were   becoming  uneasy  at  the  extrava- 
gances by  which  the  ultra-Royalists  kept  the  country 
in   a   turmoil  ;    and   secretly   the  possibility  of  a   dis- 
solution of  the  unruly  Chamber  began  to  be  mooted 
abroad.     The  Czar  wrote  most  decidedly  advising  it  ; 
the   Duke  of  Wellington   despatched   a   letter   to   the 
King  in  which  he  said  that  the  scenes  which   passed 
in   the   Chamber  of  Deputies  were  known  to  all  the 
world,   and    that   the   King's   Ministers,   though    pos- 
sessing his  entire  confidence,  were  completely  without 
influence  there.     In  writing  this  the  Duke  knew  the 
King  to  be  fully  aware  of  these  facts,  but  wished  to 
strengthen    his    hands.      The    idea   of  infuriating    his 
family  was   most   painful   to  Louis  XVIII,  and  when 
told  by  Decazes  that  he  must  assert  his  Royal  authority 
towards  his  brother,  he  said  rather  piteously  : 

"  You  talk  about  it  quite  at  your  ease  ;  you  think 
it   easy   to   act   as   King  with    your   brother,  when   as 


3Q2  Louis  XVIII 

children  you  have  slept  in  the  same  bed."  l  Decazes 
was  exerting  all  his  influence  to  bring  about  a  dis- 
solution ;  and  at  first  it  was  necessary  not  only  to 
persuade  the  King,  but  also  to  induce  the  reluctant 
Richelieu  and  Laine  to  recognise  that  it  was  impossible 
for  the  Government  of  the  country  to  be  carried  on 
successfully,  while  the  Ministry  were  continually 
harassed  by  the  attacks  of  the  ultra-Royalists. 

Before  making  up  his  mind,  the  King  considered 
the  matter  carefully  from  all  points  of  view,  and  wrote 
letters  to  Decazes  discoursing  lengthily  of  the  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages  of  the  different  courses 
practicable.  In  his  opinion  there  were  three  ;  the 
first  being  to  reduce  the  number  of  Deputies — which 
had  been  increased  at  the  second  Restoration — to  what 
was  prescribed  by  the  Charter  ;  the  second,  to  dissolve 
the  Chamber  before  the  time  for  its  reunion  ;  and  the 
third,  to  meet  the  battle,  and  to  treat  the  Chamber 
with  severity  or  not  according  to  its  own  behaviour. 
To  the  third  course  the  King  was  evidently  most 
inclined,  but  Decazes  was  firm  ;  for  in  his  opinion 
no  stability,  public  confidence,  relief  from  foreign 
armies,  or  prestige  in  Europe  were  possible  with  the 
present  Chamber  in  power.  The  Ministers  were 
by  this  time  ranged  on  his  side  ;  and  at  the 
Council  held  on  August  20th,  18 16,  they  added 
their  persuasions  to  his.  The  matter  was  kept  abso- 
lutely secret  till  September  5th,  when  the  King  signed 
the  order  known  as  "  The  Ordinance  of  the  5th  of 
September,"  which  dissolved  the  Chamber,  and  reduced 
the  Deputies  to  the  number  prescribed  by  the  Charter. 

Monsieur  knew  nothing  of  what  was  pending  ;  and 
was  only  informed  of  the  catastrophe  when  the  Due 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVI J  I  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  121. 


Dissolution  3°3 

de  Richelieu  went  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  after 
the  King  had  signed  the  document,  to  tell  him  what 
had  been  done.  Horrified  at  the  news,  he  wished  at 
once  to  remonstrate  with  the  King  ;  but  the  latter, 
with  a  cowardice  for  which  we  can  hardly  blame  him, 
had  gone  to  bed,  and  had  given  orders  that  he  was 
not  to  be  disturbed.  Therefore  Monsieur  did  not 
see  his  brother  till  the  next  day,  when,  accompanied 
by  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  he  paid  him  a  visit. 
Nothing  was  said  on  the  burning  subject  ;  but  the 
intense  sadness  of  the  visitors  must  have  been  de- 
pressing. However,  both  the  Due  d'Angouleme  and 
the  Due  de  Berry  wrote  to  the  King  expressing  their 
satisfaction  at  his  action,  so  Louis  XVIII  received  some 
support  from  his  family,  though  it  was  not  of  much 
avail  against  the  opposition  of  Monsieur  and  of 
Madame. 

The  Due  de  Berry  had  at  last  become  a  married 
man.  To  the  Czar's  intense  disappointment,  the 
negotiations  to  give  him  a  Russian  Grand  Duchess  as 
wife  had  fallen  through  ;  but  at  Fontainebleau,  on 
June  17th,  1 8 16,  his  nuptials  were  celebrated  with 
Caroline,  daughter  of  the  King  of  Naples. 

The  newly  made  Duchesse  de  Berry  was  very  tiny, 
and  though  not  pretty,  had  a  beautiful  complexion  and 
lovely  hair.  She  was  so  ignorant  that  when  she  arrived 
in  France  she  could  hardly  read.  The  King  paid 
little  attention  to  her,  the  Due  de  Berry  was  kind 
to  her,  but  treated  her  like  a  child,  and  showed  no 
intention  of  abandoning  the  dissipated  life  he  was 
leading,  while  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  who  tried 
to  control  and  advise  her,  and  whose  manners  were, 
as  we  know,  far  from  conciliatory,  soon  earned  the 
violent  dislike  of  the  headstrong  young  Princess. 


3o4  Louis  XVIII 

The  news  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Chamber  was 
received  with  relief  by  the  majority  of  the  nation, 
but  by  the  ultra-Royalists  with  a  fury  to  which 
Chateaubriand  gave  expression  in  his  pamphlet  De 
la  Monarchie  selon  la  Charte,  the  major  part  of 
which  had  been  composed  before  the  ordinance  of 
September  5  th  ;  but  to  which  he  now  added  a  postscript 
accusing  the  King  of  being  forced  into  his  action 
against  his  will,  and  of  really  desiring  the  return  of 
ultra-Royalist  Deputies  at  the  next  election.  This 
view  of  his  conduct  naturally  excited  the  King's  in- 
dignation, and  Chateaubriand  was  warned  that  the 
pamphlet  must  not  be  published,  but  refused  to  listen 
to  the  recommendation.  Therefore,  as  before  sending 
it  to  the  printer  he  had  not  performed  the  necessary 
formalities,  Decazes  ordered  it  to  be  seized.  This 
action  was  unwise,  as  the  King  saw  clearly. 

"  Do  you  flatter  yourself,"  he  wrote  to  Decazes, 
"  that  you  have  completely  stopped  the  publication 
of  Chateaubriand's  work  ?  That  is  an  illusion.  1 
will  show  you  the  impossibility  of  doing  it.  Any 
author,  who  is  not  obliged  like  Collet  to  depend  on 
a  successful  sonnet  for  his  dinner,  always  begins  by 
putting  aside  a  certain  number  of  copies  intended  for 
important  people,  such  as  friends  and  protectors  ; 
after  that  the  work  is  put  on  sale.  That  would  happen 
on  this  occasion,  and  has  happened,  I  have  no  doubt, 
and  for  this  reason  I  think  that  if  you  had  consulted 
me  before  ordering  the  seizure  I  should  have  dis- 
suaded you  from  it. 

"It  is  not  that  it  was  not  a  legal  measure,  for  the 
Testament  itself,  thus  published,  would  have  been 
liable  to  seizure.  I  shall  say  that  to  whoever  speaks 
to   me   about   it,  were   it  even   the   Due  de  Berry  or 


Chateaubriand's  Pamphlet  305 

Laine.  But,  to  you  alone,  I  should  have  said  yester- 
day evening  if  I  had  had  time,  and  I  say  to-day,  that 
people  generally  will  not  look  at  the  matter  in  this 
light,  that  they  will  consider  the  printer's  mistake 
merely  a  pretext,  and  that  I  fear  the  poison  contained 
in  the  book  will  spread  all  the  more,  because  of  the 
favour  which  a  varnish  of  persecution  gives  to  men 
and  to  things.  1  might  have  spared  myself  the  trouble 
of  saying  all  this,  since  what  is  done  is  done,  but 
friendship  would  reproach  me  for  not  thinking  aloud. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  remedy  will  cure  the  disease."  1 

The  Due  de  Berry,  impulsive  and  undependable 
as  ever,  had  now  completely  veered  round  to  the 
ultra-Royalist  side,  and  exclaimed,  speaking  of  Chateau- 
briand's production  : 

"  That  book  ought  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold." 

Considering  the  fact  that  the  King  was  very 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  his  nephew's  character,  his 
sensitiveness  about  the  utterances  of  that  most  way- 
ward Prince  is  rather  astonishing.  Writing  to  Decazes 
anent  the  redoubtable  pamphlet,  he  says  : 

"  I  was  far  from  foreseeing  the  harm  it  would  do 
to  me  personally.  *  This  book  ought  to  be  written 
in  letters  of  gold.'  Oh,  since  I  have  known  this,  it 
is  written  in  my  heart  in  letters  of  blood.  I  cannot 
cease  to  love  the  mistaken  fellow  who  said  these  cruel 
words.  But  I  am  afraid  of  losing  my  self-control 
with  the  person  who  has  separated  him  so  completely 
from   me."  2 

The  election  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  caused 
much  excitement  throughout  the  country  ;  and  Mon- 
sieur's agents  worked  incessantly  to  return  ultra- 
Royalists,  who,  to  alarm   him,   had  started   the  report 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  161.  2  Ibid. 

20 


3o6  Louis  XVIII 

that  he  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  succeed  his  brother 
on  the  throne.  Eventually  the  Ministerial  party  ob- 
tained a  majority  of  forty  to  fifty  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  Richelieu's  fear  that  the  Revolutionaries 
would  be  in  the  ascendant  was  not  fulfilled  ;  while, 
partly  as  the  result  of  their  satisfaction  at  the 
disappearance  of  the  "  Chambre  Introuvable,"  the 
Allies  were  induced  by  him  to  diminish  the  army  of 
occupation  by  one-fifth. 

All  this  was  most  satisfactory,  but  there  were  signs 
that  the  comparatively  peaceful  state  of  affairs  would 
not  be  of  long  duration.  Many  enemies  were  rising 
round  Decazes,  and  conspicuous  among  them  was 
Talleyrand,  the  man  of  no  feeling,  to  whom  those 
around  him  were  only  pawns  to  be  used  in  the 
complicated  game  he  played  for  his  own  advancement. 
For  his  own  purposes  he  had  brought  Decazes  forward, 
but  now  that  the  latter  and  the  Ministry  of  which  he 
was  a  member  were  waxing  overpowerful,  the  fallen 
Minister  joined  with  the  ultra-Royalists  in  trying  to 
pit  against  him  the  old  favourite,  whom  hardly  two 
years  earlier  they  had  hounded  from  the  kingdom. 

Much  is  mysterious  about  the  matter,  but  on 
April  15th,  1 8 17,  Blacas  left  Rome,  and,  travelling 
under  the  name  of  his  valet,  arrived  on  the  22nd 
at  an  hotel  in  Paris.  He  at  once  wrote  to  the  King 
to  say  that,  being  unable  to  stifle  the  yearnings  of 
his  heart,  he  had  come  to  Paris  merely  to  see  his 
Majesty  again,  and  to  hear  his  voice. 

The  King,  who  was  displeased  at  this  infringement  of 
ambassadorial  etiquette,  gave  the  dry  verbal  answer: 
"  I  only  receive  ambassadors  when  introduced  by  the 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs."  Blacas  was  therefore 
obliged  to  call  upon  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  who  asked 


Blacas'  Return  307 

if  he  had  been  summoned  by  the  King,  and  on  receiving 
a  negative  answer  suspected  an  intrigue.  However,  he 
consented  to  conduct  Blacas  to  his  Majesty,  and  entered 
the  King's  room  with  him,  saying  :  "  Sire,  I  present  to 
your  Majesty  a  traveller  in  a  frock  coat." 

"  Ah  !  it  is  Blacas  !  "  cried  the  King,  whose  face  had 
at  once  brightened. 

"  Blacas  had  thrown  himself  at  his  feet,  kissing  his 
haiids  ;  tears  were  in  his  eyes,  and  he  showed  by 
his  words  and  gestures  the  most  lively  emotion."  1 

Madame  de  Boigne  tells  us2  that  Richelieu  and 
Blacas  followed  the  King  in  to  lunch,  and  says : 

"  Surprise  and  embarrassment  were  general  at  the 
appearance  of  Monsieur  de  Blacas,  who  was  thought 
to  be  at  Rome.  Eyes  were  turned  upon  the  King's 
face  to  discover  in  what  way  the  Ambassador  should 
be  received,  but  the  King's  expression  was  impassive. 
The  presence  of  Monsieur  de  Richelieu  was  an  embar- 
rassment to  those  who  would  have  liked  to  show  the 
hopes   which  they  possibly  felt. 

"  Every  one,  according  to  custom,  had  assembled, 
when  Madame  arrived,  preceded  by  a  little  bitch  which 
Monsieur  de  Blacas  had  formerly  given  her.  The 
animal  jumped  up  to  its  former  master  and  fawned 
upon  him. 

"  '  Poor  Thisbe  !  '  said  the  King.  c  I  am  pleased  to 
see  that  she  remembers  you  so  well.' 

"  The  Due  d'Havre  leaned  over  to  his  neighbour 
and  said  in  his  ear :  '  We  must  follow  Thisbe's  example 
without  hesitation.' 

"  Monsieur  de  Blacas  was  then  surrounded  with  the 
most  affectionate  demonstrations.      Madame  showed  no 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Deeazes,  p.  182. 

2  Trans,  de  Boigne  Memoires%  p.  207. 


3o8  Louis  XVIII 

greater  surprise  than  the  King,  but  received  Monsieur 
de  Blacas  with  great  kindness.  Doubtless  she  was  not 
unaware  of  the  intrigue  which  was  in  progress.  The 
Due  d'Angouleme  lunched  somewhat  later  than  the 
King,  and  when  the  Princess  left  her  Uncle's  apartments 
she  used  to  come  in  at  the  end  of  the  Duke's  meal 
and  eat  one  or  two  grapes  every  day.  To-day  she 
announced  the  arrival  of  Monsieur  de  Blacas. 

"  '  So  much  the  worse,'  replied  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
drily.     She  made  no  answer." 

As  usual,  the  different  members  of  the  Royal  Family 
did  not  see  matters  in  the  same  light  ;  but  at  first  the 
intriguers  were  full  of  delighted  hope  as  to  the  success 
of  their  scheme.  Blacas  was  reinstated  in  his  old  apart- 
ments at  the  Tuileries,  used  the  Court  carriages,  could 
go  to  see  the  King  whenever  he  pleased,  and  came 
out  from  long  audiences  smiling  triumphantly.  The 
foreign  Ministers  disapproved  strongly  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  seeing  in  Blacas'  ascendancy  an  augury  of  the 
reversal  of  the  policy  under  which  France  was  becoming 
settled  and  prosperous  ;  but  Talleyrand,  Chateaubriand, 
Vitrolles,  and  all  the  ultra-Royalists  rejoiced  extremely. 

It  was  decided  by  Richelieu  and  Decazes  that  Blacas 
must  leave  Paris  speedily,  and  Richelieu  undertook  to 
approach  the  King  about  the  matter.  The  King  assured 
his  Minister  that  he  had  never  authorised  Blacas' 
departure  from  Rome,  and  Richelieu  could  easily  gather 
that,  though  Louis  XVIII  still  felt  warm  affection  for 
his  former  favourite  and  was  most  anxious  not  to 
hurt  his  feelings,  he  found  his  presence  embarrassing, 
and  would  be  relieved  at  his  departure.  It  was  also 
evident  that  he  was  determined  to  uphold  his  Ministers 
with  the  utmost  loyalty,  and  the  disappointed  Blacas 
was  forced  to  return  to  his  post  in  Rome,  where  he 


From  an  engraving  by  F.  Lignon,  after  a  painting  by  Sir  Thomas  Laurence. 

THE    DUC    DE    RICHELIEU. 
p.  ;,oS] 


Blacas  Leaves  Paris  309 

was  engaged   in   negotiations   with   the   Pope  about  a 
new  Concordat. 

The  King  also  supported  his  Ministry  in  the  reforms 
which  the  Marechal  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  the  new 
Minister  for  War,  was  trying  to  introduce  into  the 
Army,  where  he  wished  to  bring  in  a  modified  form 
of  conscription,  to  do  away  with  the  favouritism  of 
promotion  by  Royal  Order,  and  to  make  it  the  result 
of  seniority.  The  first  of  these  measures  was  absolutely 
necessary  if  France  was  to  be  provided  with  an 
adequate  Army,  and  the  second  equally  necessary  it 
that  Army  was  to  represent  the  country  as  a  whole  ;  but 
both  were  disputed  violently  by  the  ultra-Royalists, 
and  Monsieur  wrote  to  the  King  pointing  out  the 
danger  of  these  measures  as  infringing  on  the  rights 
of  the  Crown,  and  also  attacking  the  policy  of  the 
Ministry,  which  would,  he  said,  lead  the  King  and 
country  to  destruction.  The  King  was  very  angry 
at  this  criticism,  which  he  would  not  allow  Monsieur 
to  publish,  as  the  latter  had  intended  to  do.  In  his 
letter  back,  Louis  XVIII  said: 

"  The  system  I  have  adopted,  and  which  my  Ministers 
follow  with  perseverance,  is  founded  on  the  maxim  that 
it  is  impossible  to  reign  over  two  peoples,  and  all  the 
efforts  of  my  Government  tend  to  arrange  that  these 
two  peoples,  who  exist  only  too  decidedly,  shall  end 
by  becoming  one."  * 

The  King  added  that  he  was  in  complete  accord 
with  his  Ministers  on  everything,  and  that  his  firmness 
would  triumph  over  Monsieur's  opposition. 

"  But,"    he   continues,    "  I    cannot    imagine  without 
shuddering   the  moment  when  I  shall  close  my  eyes. 
You  will  then  find  yourself  between  two  parties,  one  of 
1  Crousaz-Cret6t,  Life  of  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  p.  270. 


310  Louis  XVIII 

which  already  considers  itself  oppressed  by  me,  while 
the  other  will  fear  the  same  thing  from  you.  Conclusion, 
— a  civil  war,  and  a  future  of  divisions,  troubles,  and 
calamities." 

Relations  were  terribly  strained  at  this  time  between 
the  King  and  his  family,  and  Madame  de  Boigne  tells 
us  of  a  painful  scene  after  the  Due  de  Berry  had  can- 
vassed at  his  evening  parties  for  supporters  against  the 
Government.  "  The  King  was  informed  of  the  fact, 
sent  for  him,  and  rated  him  soundly.  The  Due  de 
Berry  complained  to  his  sister-in-law.  They  discussed 
their  grievances  in  common,  and  lashed  themselves 
to  fury  in  the  process  ;  at  length,  in  the  evening  after 
dinner,  Monsieur  proceeded  to  expound  their  views 
in  no  measured  terms.  The  King  replied  with  vigour. 
Madame  and  the  Due  de  Berry  intervened,  and  the 
quarrel  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that  Monsieur  declared 
he  would  leave  the  Court  with  his  children.  The  King 
replied  that  there  were  fortresses  for  rebellious  Princes. 
Monsieur  answered  that  the  Charter  did  not  provide  for 
State  prisons — the  unfortunate  Charter  being  constantly 
invoked  by  those  who  hated  it  most  bitterly — and  on 
these  friendly  terms  they  parted. 

The  Due  d'Angouleme  had  been  the  only  member  of 
the  family  to  keep  silence.  His  respect  for  his  father 
balanced  his  respect  for  the  King,  so  that  he  would  not 
have  felt  justified  in  pronouncing  in  favour  of  either 
party.  When  once  their  anger  had  subsided,  all 
regretted  the  violence  of  their  language.  The  poor 
King  wept  when  he  told  his  Ministers  of  the  scene 
in  the  evening.  He  had,  however,  been  so  shaken 
that  he  was  unable  to  digest  his  dinner.  An  attack 
of  gout  in  the  stomach  supervened,  his  breathing  failed 
almost  entirely  in  the  night,  and  he  was  ill  for  several 


Painful  Family  Scenes  311 

days  afterwards.  His  family  seized  the  opportunity 
for  a  display  of  affection,  in  which  he  pretended  to 
believe  in  order  to  gain  a  little  peace,  but  for  which 
he  really  cared  very  little.  The  public  were  as  well 
aware  as  the  King  of  the  opposition  which  the  Princes 
had  offered,  and  the  jest  of  the  moment  was  to  call  the 
black  balls  in  the  ballot-box  "  Monsieur's  prunes."  ! 

Monsieur  was  at  this  time  particularly  active.  It 
had  been  settled  that  in  September  1818  the  Great 
Powers  should  hold  a  Congress  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
to  discuss,  among  other  things,  the  possibility  of  the 
foreign  troops  at  once  evacuating  France,  instead  of 
waiting  till  the  five  years  mentioned  in  the  Convention 
should  have  elapsed.  With  Monsieur's  knowledge,  his 
friend  Vitrolles  took  the  extraordinary  and  unpatriotic 
course  of  writing  a  secret  Note  to  the  Powers,  begging 
them  not  to  leave  France  while  the  King  was  governed 
by  a  Revolutionary  Ministry.  Instead  of  this  Note 
being  shown  to  the  Great  Powers — when,  if  they  had 
given  credit  to  it,  they  might  have  delayed  their  evacua- 
tion of  the  country — it  was  made  public  in  France,  and 
the  intriguing  Vitrolles  lost  his  position  as  Minister 
of  State.  About  the  same  time  the  conspiracy  known 
as  "  Du  bord  de  l'Eau  ' '  was  discovered,  by  which  the 
Ministers  were  to  be  kidnapped,  and  the  King  apparently 
forcibly  provided  with  a  purely  Royalist  Cabinet.  To 
this  conspiracy  it  was  suspected  that  Monsieur  was 
privy,  and  his  influence  was  felt  to  be  so  pernicious, 
that  the  post  of  Colonel-General  of  the  National  Guard, 
which  he  had  held  since  1 8 14,  was  summarily  suppressed. 
Monsieur  was  furious  at  his  disgrace  ;  but  the  King 
was  determined. 

The  King  and  his  Ministers  were  now  reaping  the 

1  Trans,  de  Boigne  Me'moircs,  vol.  ii.  p.  199. 


3i2  Louis  XVIII 

first-fruits  of  their  prudent  and  moderate  policy. 
Richelieu's  great  ambition  was  that  the  Great  Powers 
should  decide  to  receive  France  again  on  terms  of 
equality.  The  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  opened 
on  September  30th,  181 8,  and  to  the  intense  joy  of 
every  patriot,  it  was  determined  that  by  November  30th 
the  foreign  troops  should  have  evacuated  France  ; 
while,  after  the  Czar  had  visited  Paris  and  had  had  an 
interview  with  Louis  XVIII,  France  was  again  admitted 
into  the  Concert  of  European  Powers. 

Louis  XVIII  and  Richelieu  had  certainly  deserved 
well  of  their  country. 

"  I  have  lived  long  enough,"  said  the  King,  "  since 
I  have  seen  France  free,  and  the  French  flag  flying 
over  every  French  town  !  " 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Divisions  between  Richelieu  and  Decazes — Louis  XVIII's  view  of  the 
situation — Ultra-Royalist  tactics — Question  of  retirement  of  Decazes 
— Richelieu  resigns — Formation  of  the  Cabinet  Dessoles-Decazes 
— Difficulties — The  King's  sentiments — His  family  difficulties 
— His  kindness  to  Madame  Decazes — The  "  Loi  Barthelemy" — 
Triumph  of  the  ultras — Creation  of  new  peers — Cabinet  harassed 
by  ultra-liberals — Gregoire's  election — Decazes  proposes  alteration 
in  election  laws— Assassination  of  the  Due  de  Berry — Fury  of  the 
ultra-Royalists  against  Decazes — The  Royal  Family  implore  the 
King  to  dismiss  him — Retirement  of  Decazes — Richelieu  becomes 
head  of  the  Cabinet — The  King's  grief — Disappointment  of  the 
Due  de  Castries. 

TOWARDS  the  end  of  the  year  1 8 1 8,  when  the 
Due  de  Richelieu  returned  triumphantly  from 
the  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  his  Ministry  appeared 
at  a  cursory  glance  to  be  strongly  established  and 
prosperous.  To  any  one  who  understood  the  inner 
workings  of  the  Cabinet,  however,  the  outlook  was 
less  favourable,  for  Richelieu  and  Decazes,  the  two 
principal  members  of  it,  were  every  month  becoming 
more  divided  in  aims  and  in  policy.  Richelieu  had 
returned  from  the  Congress  imbued  with  dread  of  a 
renewal  of  revolution  in  France,  a  dread  intensified  by 
the  fact  that  a  certain  number  of  Jacobin  and  Bona- 
partist  Deputies  had  been  returned  at  the  elections 
which  had  taken  place  during  his  stay  at  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
He  was  therefore  most  anxious  to  conciliate  Monsieur 
and    his    party,   and    urged    the    necessity   of   this   on 

313 


3i4  Louis  XVIII 

Decazes  ;  though  he  allowed  that  the  latter  would  be 
more  than  a  man,  if  he  were  not  influenced  in  his 
feelings  by  the  outrages  rained  on  him  by  certain 
madmen  among  the  ultras.  Decazes,  on  the  other 
hand,  exasperated  by  the  violent  hatred  shown  him  by 
the  ultra-Royalists,  was  inclining  decidedly  to  the 
liberals,  and  especially  towards  the  party  known  as  the 
"  doctrinaires,"  or,  in  ridicule,  as  the  "  petit  ministere," 
because  of  its  supposed  power  in  the  Cabinet.  This 
party,  which  contained  in  its  ranks  distinguished  men 
such  as  Guizot  and  Barante,  was  considered  by  the 
ultra-Royalists  to  be  most  dangerous  in  its  proclivities. 

"  To  support  the  Restoration  by  contending  against 
the  reaction,  was  at  first  its  whole  policy,"  *  says 
Guizot. 

Naturally  optimistic,  and  with  full  confidence  in  his 
own  gift  of  managing  men,  as  well  as  in  his  power  over 
the  King,  Decazes  seems  to  have  underestimated  the 
strength  of  his  enemies  ;  while  Richelieu,  on  the  other 
hand,  being  devoid  of  ambition,  and  hating  the  political 
task  forced  on  him  by  his  patriotism  and  sense  of  duty, 
was  apt  to  look  on  the  gloomy  side  of  things,  and 
was  easily  prone  to  despair.  It  was  in  vain  that 
Decazes  tried  to  minimise  the  significance  of  the  seats 
won  by  the  Jacobins  and  the  Bonapartists  ;  he  refused 
to  be  comforted. 

c£  My  future  appears  to  me  in  the  blackest  colours," 
he  writes  to  Decazes,  "  for  if  everything  goes  badly 
it  will  be  impossible  to  leave,  and  to  remain  would  be 
a  hundred  times  worse  than  death  to  me."  2 

Louis  XVIII  viewed  the  situation  from  a  more  cheer- 
ful, and  possibly  a  more  common-sense,  standpoint  than 

1  Memoires,  p.  115. 

2  Daudet,  Louts  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  283. 


Ministerial  Dissensions  3*5 

did  his  First  Minister.  In  the  curious  account  he  has 
written  of  the  crisis  in  the  Cabinet,1  he  says  : 

"  Some  of  the  elections  displeased  me,  such  as  those 
of  La  Sarthe,  La  Vendee,  and  Finistere  ;  but  these  are 
annoyances  incidental  to  a  Constitution  like  ours,  and  the 
greater  number  were  good."  The  King  also  remarks 
that  there  was  nothing  specially  threatening  about  the 
Session  which  was  about  to  open,  for  order  and  con- 
fidence had  been  restored,  France  was  respected  abroad, 
and  although  lively  debates  would  no  doubt  take  place 
in  the  Chamber,  he  considered  that  the  Government 
would  keep  a  considerable  majority.  From  a  letter  the 
King  wrote  to  Decazes,  we  learn  that  he  did  not  agree 
with  Richelieu's  views  on  the  possibility  of  reforming 
Monsieur. 

11 1  have  undoubtedly  a  good  opinion  of  your  power 
of  pleasing  and  of  persuading,  my  dear  son,  but  I  do 
not  share  Richelieu's  opinion  of  the  facility  you  will 
have  in  converting  your  Uncle,  and  I  consider  that 
Sp.'s  example  proves  nothing  "  ;  and  the  King  summed 
up  the  matter  bitterly  by  saying  that  his  nephew  was 
not  afflicted,  like  his  brother,  by  the  terrible  and  in- 
corrigible malady  of  the  "  desire  to  reign."  2 

Meanwhile,  Decazes  had  other  anxieties  besides  those 
caused  by  the  constant  opposition  of  the  ultra-Royalists. 
He  objected  to  his  position  of  Minister  of  Police, 
considering  it  slightly  beneath  his  dignity,  besides  being 
an  anachronism  under  a  constitutional  monarchy,  and 
his  friends  wished  to  substitute  him  for  Lain6  as 
Minister  of  the  Interior.  This  was,  however,  impossible, 
as  Laine  declared  that  if  deprived  of  his  post  he  would 
retire  into  private  life  altogether  ;  and   Richelieu  had 

1  Given  in  Book  xxxv.  of  Lamartine's  Histoire  de  la  Restauration. 
3  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  Ic  Due  Decazes,  p,  279. 


316  Louis  XVIII 

always  announced  that  he  would  not  remain  in  the 
Cabinet  without  him.  Decazes  was  also  anxious  about 
the  dangers  of  democracy ;  for  a  sentence  in  the  King's 
Speech  which  caused  a  great  sensation  when  he  opened 
the  Chambers  on  December  ioth,  1818,  came  from  his 
pen.     It  ran  as  follows  : 

"  I  count  on  your  help  to  repulse  the  pernicious 
principles  which,  under  the  mask  of  liberty,  attack 
social  order,  and  lead  by  anarchy  to  absolute  power  ; 
while  their  unfortunate  success  has  cost  the  world  much 
blood  and  many  tears." 

In  spite  of  these  sentiments,  Louis  XVIII  was  much 
disturbed  by  the  discovery  that  Richelieu  had,  unknown 
to  him,  been  negotiating  with  the  ultra-Royalist  con- 
tingent, and  had  even  discussed  with  them  an  alteration 
of  the  law  of  elections,  by  which  the  whole  of  the 
Chamber,  instead  of  a  fifth  part,  should  be  renewed 
every  five  years  ;  while  a  law  limiting  the  liberty  of  the 
press  was  to  be  passed  at  the  same  time. 

According  to  the  Duchesse  Decazes,  Richelieu  had 
been  persuaded  to  take  this  line,  and  had  been 
influenced  against  Decazes  by  Mole,  the  Minister  of 
Marine. 

The  King  was  deeply  injured  at  this  want  of  con- 
fidence on  the  part  of  his  President  of  the  Council : 

"  Never,"  he  says,  "  will  posterity  believe  that  a 
Minister,  whoever  he  may  be,  could  conceive,  and  even 
put  into  execution,  a  plan  the  effect  of  which  would  be 
to  change  the  whole  course  of  the  government,  without 
saying  a  single  word  about  it  to  the  King.  It  will  be 
even  less  believed  when  it  is  known  that  the  Minister 
was  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  the  most  loyal  man  who  has 
ever  existed,  and  the  King,  that  Louis  XVIII,  who 
has  been  accused  of  weakness,  but  not  of  indiscretion, 


A  Crisis  3X7 

so  that  it  might  have  been  considered  easy,  while 
keeping  the  plan  secret,  to  try  to  make  him  change  his 
opinion." 

In    his    confidential    letters    to    Decazes,    the     King 
characterises  Mole  most  severely  : 

"  This    serpent,"     he     says,    "  will    have    conceived 
some  fresh  treason  of  which  we  shall  feel  the  effects."  l 

Remembering,  however,  the  debt  of  gratitude  France 
owed  Richelieu  for  the  concessions  he  had  wrung 
from  the  Allies  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Louis  XVIII  was 
determined  not  to  break  with  him  ;  and  he  therefore 
pretended  to  be  unaware  of  his  dallyings  with  the 
reactionary  party,  and  looked  on  with  apparent 
equanimity  while  his  brother's  party  gained  victory 
after  victory.  Ultra-Royalists  were  chosen  for  the 
Bureau  of  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  ultra-Royalists 
formed  the  Commission  for  the  Address,  an  ultra- 
Royalist  was  made  President  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  Richelieu  would  not  see  Decazes,  and 
did  not  answer  his  letters.  However,  the  tide  soon 
turned,  for  while  the  ultra-Royalists  were  rejoicing  in 
the  expectation  of  coming  triumph,  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  declared  its  views  by  choosing  moderates 
and  liberals  for  its  Secretaries,  among  them  being 
the  Comte  de  Saint-Aulaire,  father-in-law  to  Decazes. 

This  action  hurried  the  catastrophe,  as  Richelieu 
on  this  occasion  spoke  bitterly  of  Decazes  to  the 
King,  and  accused  him  of  influencing  these  elections. 
The  King  was  suffering  from  one  of  his  frequent 
attacks  of  gout,  brought  about  very  probably  by 
anxiety  and  worry.  In  his  account  of  these  events  he 
says  : 

"  May   I   here  be  permitted  to  speak  of    the    state 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  292. 


3i8  Louis  XVIII 

of  my  health,  not  in  order  to  be  pitied,  but  as  an 
excuse  for  mistakes  I  may  have  made  in  these  diffi- 
cult circumstances  ?  On  the  1 2th  I  felt  an  attack 
of  gout ;  during  three  days  it  was  so  slight  that  I 
thought  it  would  be  nothing,  but  on  the  evening  of  the 
15th  the  pains  became  very  severe,  and  on  the  1 6th 
an  attack  began  which  I  will  describe  in  a  few  words  ; 
great  suffering,  little  sleep,  no  appetite,  fever,  and 
prostration  of  physical  and  mental  strength.  This 
was  my  condition  for  over  eight  days." 

It  was  during  this  illness  that  the  King  received 
the  resignations  of  Richelieu,  Mole,  and  Laine,  fol- 
lowed the  next  day  by  those  of  Decazes  and  Pasquier. 
His  trouble  can  easily  be  imagined. 

"  My  dear  son,  your  Father  is  very  unhappy,"  he 
wrote  to  Decazes,  "  but  he  only  feels  the  more  deeply 
how  much  he  loves  you." 

On  receiving  the  resignations  of  his  Ministers,  the 
King  at  once  wrote  to  Richelieu,  begging  him  to 
decide  nothing  definitely  before  seeing  him. 

Richelieu  found  his  Royal  Master  in  a  state  of 
extreme  agitation  and  sorrow,  convinced  that,  in 
case  of  his  withdrawal,  the  only  possible  course  was 
the  hated  one  of  calling  upon  Talleyrand  to  form 
a  Ministry.  Touched  by  his  trouble,  Richelieu  wrote 
after  this  interview  to  offer  to  remain  at  the  head 
of  affairs  if  Decazes  were  excluded  from  the  Ministry, 
and  were  sent  at  once  as  Ambassador  to  Naples  or  to 
St.  Petersburg.  Richelieu  said  in  his  letter  that  he 
"  loved  and  esteemed "  Decazes,  but  that  as  long 
as  the  latter  remained  in  France,  the  liberal  party 
would  consider  him  the  aim  of  their  hopes,  while  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  ultra-Royalists,  whose 
imprudences  had,  he  allowed,  caused  untold  harm,  to 


Resignation  of  the  Cabinet  3X9 

join  the  Ministry  while  the  man  whom  they  hated 
was  a  member  of  it,  and  that,  therefore,  in  spite  of 
himself,  Decazes  would  become  an  obstacle  to  the 
Government. 

This  letter  was  a  terrible  shock  to  the  King. 

"  Be  reconciled  with  the  ultras  !  "  he  cried  : 
"  What  a  disgrace !     And  perhaps  a  useless  disgrace  ! ' 

However,  patriotism  and  the  fear  of  being  forced  to 
have  recourse  to  Talleyrand  prevailed  over  pride  and 
personal  affection,  and  the  King  told  Decazes  of 
Richelieu's  ultimatum  in  a  letter  which  he  finished 
with  the  words  : 

"  But  I  wish  I  were  dead,  O  my  son  !  " 

Decazes  was  horrified  at  the  idea  of  making  a  long 
journey  with  his  delicate  and  ailing  wife,  and  he  begged 
that  this  cruel  condition  might  at  least  be  removed,  and 
that  he  might  be  allowed  to  remain  in  France  if  he 
promised  to  retire  into  the  country.  Richelieu  was  at 
first  inexorable  ;  but,  a  little  later,  better  thoughts 
prevailed,  and  he  limited  his  conditions  to  a  few 
months'  sojourn  in  the  country. 

Now  fresh  difficulties  supervened,  for  the  different 
members  of  the  Ministry  objected  strongly  to  any 
change  in  the  elections  laws  ;  while  several  of  them 
refused  to  remain  in  the  Cabinet  unless  Decazes  were  a 
member  of  it.  Richelieu,  therefore,  for  a  second  time 
sent  in  his  resignation,  and  proposed  to  the  King  to 
have  recourse  to  Decazes  for  forming  a  fresh  Ministry. 

The  King  assented  without  enthusiasm,  for  he  saw 
plainly  that  in  the  present  state  of  affairs,  a  retirement 
for  a  time  from  the  political  arena  would  really  be  to 
the  interest  of  Decazes.  In  the  end,  the  Cabinet 
Dessoles-Decazes  was  formed,  General  Dessoles  be- 
coming President  of  the  Council  and  Foreign  Minister, 


320  Louis  XVIII 

while  Decazes  at  last  held  the  coveted  post  of  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  the  Marechal  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr  kept 
that  of  Minister  of  War,  and  the  Baron  Louis  took  his 
old  post  of  Minister  of  Finance. 

In  spite  of  their  late  contentions,  Richelieu  and 
Decazes  felt  a  warm  affection  for  each  other,  and  know- 
ing that  Richelieu  had  lost  all  his  property  during  the 
Revolution,  and  was  leaving  office  a  poor  man,  Decazes 
tried  to  obtain  for  him  a  permanent  income  from  the 
Treasury.  This  the  country  certainly  owed  him  for 
the  ability  he  had  shown  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  when  he 
had  shortened  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  foreign 
troops,  and  had  thus  saved  France  an  enormous  sum  of 
money.  The  ultra-Royalists,  however,  were  so  furious 
at  this  proposal,  and  made  so  many  offensive  remarks 
about  it  that,  having  accepted  the  grant  out  of  respect 
to  the  King,  Richelieu  gave  it  to  the  Bordeaux  hospitals. 
Decazes  then  managed  to  have  the  sinecure  post  of 
Grand  Mastership  of  the  Hounds  conferred  on  his 
friend,  and  Richelieu  wrote  to  him  on  this  occasion : 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  the  rapid  effects  of  your 
friendship.  I  am  extremely  glad  and  grateful."  He 
finishes  his  letter  with  the  words :  "  Receive  here,  with 
all  my  thanks,  the  assurance  of  my  constant  and  tender 
friendship,  and  that  of  my  very  sincere  wishes  for  your 
success.     Write  to  me  sometimes  about  yourself."  ! 

Decazes  now  seemed  to  be  at  the  height  of  his 
ambition,  but  the  virulent  hatred  of  his  enemies  in- 
creased with  his  success.  Madame  de  Boigne  tells  a 
story  which  shows  the  almost  incredible  insolence  of 
the  ultras.  She  had  just  returned  from  England,  and 
was  talking  with  some  friends  at  a  party  given  by 
Madame    de    Duras,    when   she   saw    Decazes'    sister, 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  311. 


Society  on  Politics  321 

Madame  Princeteau,  and  went  up  to  speak  to  her. 
Her  friends  at  once  left  her,  and  when  she  rejoined 
them,  they  said  : 

"  We  admire  your  courage  in  speaking  to  Madame 
Princeteau  in  the  presence  of  the  Israelites." 

"  Oh,  it  is  only  the  courage  of  ignorance  ;  if  she  had 
been  here  a  week  she  would  not  dare."  . 

"  But  how  can  I  be  so  rude  as  to  pass  her  without  a 
word  ?     I  am  dining  with  her  brother  to-morrow." 

"  That  does  not  matter  ;  people  go  to  the  Minister's 
house,  but  do  not  speak  either  to  Madame  Princeteau 
or  even  to  Monsieur  Decazes  when  they  meet  them 
elsewhere."  l 

Decazes  was  in  a  changed  position  in  this  new 
Cabinet,  as  he,  with  Portal  and  eventually  the  Marechal 
Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  formed  the  moderate  section  of  it ; 
while  Dessoles,  de  Serre,  and  the  Baron  Louis  inclined 
more  decidedly  to  the  left  or  liberal  party. 

Decazes  still  tried  to  carry  out  faithfully  Louis  XVIII's 
words  : 

"  Let  us  walk  between  the  right  and  the  left,  holding 
out  our  hands  to  them  both,  and  saying  that  whoever  is 
not  against  us  is  with  us."  2 

The  King  was  rather  uneasy  at  the  tendencies  of  the 
new  Cabinet,  but  he  objected  to  following  Decazes' 
proposed  plan  of  appointing  Pasquier,  a  man  of 
moderate  opinions,  as  seventh  Minister,  with  the 
object  of  ensuring  a  majority  of  moderates  ;  and  pre- 
ferred to  depend  on  the  Royal  prerogative.  In  a 
curious  passage,  he  gives  his  opinion  on  the  position  of 
Royalty  in  a  constitutional  Government  : 

"  My   will  should  be  everything.     The  responsible 

1  Trans,  de  Boigne  Me'moires,  vol.  ii.  p.  182. 

*  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  314. 

21 


322  Louis  XVIII 

Ministers  say  to  the  King,  '  This  is  our  opinion. 
The  King  answers  :  '  This  is  my  will.'  If  the 
Ministers,  after  having  reflected,  think  they  will  not 
risk  too  much  in  following  his  will,  they  follow  it. 
If  it  be  otherwise,  they  declare  they  cannot.  Then,  if 
the  King  cannot  do  without  his  Ministers,  he  gives 
in.     In  the  contrary  case,  he  takes  others."  1 

Louis  XVIII  preserved  a  dignified  and  courteous 
demeanour  to  all  his  Ministers  ;  but,  though  he  was 
most  anxious  to  give  the  Cabinet  every  chance  of  suc- 
cess, and  to  support  it  with  complete  loyalty,  so  that 
no  shadow  of  responsibility  for  its  failure,  if  it  were  to 
fail,  should  fall  on  him,  it  often  wounded  his  suscepti- 
bilities as  a  monarch,  and  he  considered  its  fall  a 
foregone  conclusion.  We  only  know  this  from  his 
letters  to  Decazes,  his  other  self,  to  whom  he  did  not 
scruple  to  reveal  his  secret  mind.  From  these  we  learn 
that  he  disliked  the  doctrinaires,  said  that  Camille 
Jordan's  boasting  made  him  feel  ill,  and  was  much 
irritated  at  some  of  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr's  military 
arrangements,  as  trenching  on  his  prerogative,  though 
he  saw  the  sad  necessity  for  the  scheme  of  army  reform 
as  a  whole.  He  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  Due 
d'Angouleme  was  most  indignant  with  the  Minister 
of  War,  and  that  if  he,  who  had  generally  held  aloof 
from  the  opposition  shown  to  the  Ministry  by  the 
Royal  Family,  were  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  malcontents, 
it  would  be  a  terrible  misfortune.  Decazes  must  insist 
that  the  Marechal  shall  change  certain  measures. 

"  If  not,  I  shall  have  to  tell  him.     I  shall  certainly 
do  it  politely.     But  I  do  not  promise  that  the  tone  of 
my  voice  will  not  show  my  real  feelings  a  little."  2 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  217. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  321. 


His  Relations  to  the  Cabinet  323 

The  King  was  also  very  susceptible  about  the 
honour  of  his  ancestors,  and,  unless  prevented  by 
Decazes,  would  certainly  have  put  his  veto  on  the 
nomination  of  Monsieur  Lemontey  to  the  Academie 
Francaise,  because  in  one  of  his  books  he  had  spoken 
of  Louis  XIV  in  an  unbecoming  manner.  The  long 
letter  Louis  XVIII  wrote  to  Decazes  on  the  subject, 
is  a  striking  proof  of  his  erudition  and  remark- 
able memory,  for  he  is  able  to  state  with  clearness 
the  r61es  played  severally  by  the  Sorbonne  and  the 
Parliament  in  the  matter  of  the  introduction  of  inocula- 
tion for  smallpox,  and  seems  to  be  equally  well  versed 
in  minute  details  about  the  biography  of  l'Abbe 
Morellet.  He  was  still  undergoing  harassing  scenes 
with  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family. 

The  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  was  most  anxious  to 
obtain  his  permission  to  go  to  Bordeaux,  and  he  writes 
to  Decazes  : 

"  Your  poor  Father  goes  through  much  trouble,  my 
dear  boy.  Yesterday  the  Due  d'Angouleme  asked  me 
to  give  a  definite  answer  about  the  journey  to  Bordeaux. 
I  answered  negatively,  because  of  the  circumstances  and 
the  expense.  This  morning  his  wife  spoke  to  me  about 
it.  I  gave  the  same  answer.  She  did  not  hide  from 
me  the  fact  that  this  caused  her  much  trouble.  Then 
I  said  to  her : 

" 1 1  was  perfectly  contented  with  your  husband's 
behaviour  during  his  journey.  Can  you  promise  me 
that  yours  will  be  the  same  as  his  ? ' 

"  A  very  expressive  silence  was  at  first  her  only 
answer.     Then  she  added  : 

"  1 1  hope  that  the  King  will  never  have  cause  to 
complain  of  my  conduct,  or  of  any  want  of  affection 
for  him.' 


324  Louis  XVIII 

" '  Oh,'  I  said,  l  I  am  quite  sure  of  your  friendship 
for  me, — as  sure  as  of  my  own  for  you.  But  I  consider 
that  this  journey  will  do  more  harm  than  good.  Be- 
sides, the  reasons  I  have  already  given  hold  good.' 

ccThe  interview,  which  had  lasted  three  minutes  in  all, 
for  it  was  just  before  luncheon,  then  came  to  an  end. 
I  consider  that  1  did  not  answer  badly.  But  the  tears 
that  I  saw  flowing  are  a  weight  on  my  heart."  l 

Spending  his  life,  except  when  carried  behind  four 
galloping  horses  for  his  daily  drive  through  the 
streets  of  Paris,  in  an  armchair  behind  the  writing- 
table  of  white  wood  he  had  brought  from  Hartwell  ; 
on  bad  terms  with  his  family,  helpless,  and  in  almost 
continual  pain,  the  King's  outlook  was  not  cheerful. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  still  possible  for  him  to  jest,  even 
on  the  subject  of  his  infirmities.     So  he  tells  Decazes  : 

"  My  walk  to-day  from  my  dressing-room  was  ex- 
tremely weakly,  so  that  I  gave  up  my  intention  of  receiving 
the  Ambassadors  standing,  not  wishing  '  to  show  the 
nations  Mithridates  destroyed,'  so  I  told  every  one  this. 
But  when  I  had  lunched  I  felt  rather  more  strength. 
I  made  a  little  trial,  and  this  succeeded,  which  en- 
couraged me.  After  Mass,  I  had  myself  rolled  to  the 
door  of  the  throne-room.  There  I  got  up  and  walked 
to  my  armchair,  where  I  waited  for  the  gentlemen ;  and 
when  they  had  finished  their  salutes,  which  I  did  not 
wish  to  receive  standing,  as  that  would  have  been  too 
tiring,  I  got  on  to  my  legs  again,  and  made  the  tour  of 
Europe  ;  then  I  bowed,  and  went  to  get  again  into  my 
chair,  where  it  was  waiting  for  me. 

"  I  do  more  than  this  every  day.     But  the  essential 
thing    is   not    to   appear   too   ridiculous,   and   I   flatter 
myself  that  I  was  not  that.     To-morrow,  unless   the 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  325. 


His  Relations  to  his  Family  325 

unforeseen  occurs,  I  shall  go  to  the  Council  on  foot. 
His  Excellence  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  [Decazes] 
will  perhaps  feel  angry  that  I  did  not  receive  him  and 
his  colleagues  in  the  same  way.  But  my  son  will 
remember  that  except  those  to  whom  no  man  is  a 
hero,  no  one  has  seen  me  standing  more  often  than 
he  has."  1 

The  King  was  most  anxious  to  act  as  sponsor  to 
Decazes'  infant,  but  this  would  not  be  etiquette  unless 
the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  would  consent  to  be  god- 
mother ;  and  he  approached  the  Due  d'Angouleme 
cautiously  on  the  subject.  His  niece,  he  knew,  would 
not  refuse  if  he  were  to  ask  her  ;  but  he  wished  to 
be  sure  that  she  would  be  pleasant,  and  would  not, 
as  he  expressed  the  matter  to  Decazes,  be  as  stiff  as 
a  poker  at  the  christening.  The  Due  d'Angouleme, 
who  was  evidently  rather  in  awe  of  his  wife,  asked 
for  a  few  days  to  find  out  her  sentiments  ;  and  re- 
turned with  the  unsatisfactory  news  that  the  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme  had  only  said  "  that  she  was  always 
under  the  King's  orders."  Therefore,  discouraged 
by  this  ungenial  attitude,  Louis  XVIII  gave  up  the 
idea  of  sponsorship  to  his  friend's  child. 

He  was  always  most  kind  to  Madame  Decazes, 
sent  her  a  little  bouquet  every  day,  took  a  fatherly 
interest  in  her  health,  and  invited  her  to  the  Tuileries 
from  time  to  time.     She  says  : 

"  The  first  time,  I  was  taken  by  my  husband. 
Afterwards  I  went  alone.  The  King  was  always  most 
kind.  But  his  kindness  did  not  diminish  my  em- 
barrassment. Entering  his  study  I  made  a  deep 
curtsey.  The  footman  who  had  opened  the  door 
followed   me,   and  turned  the  armchair,  in   which   the 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  326. 


326  Louis  XVIII 

King  was  sitting  in  front  of  his  little  white-wood 
table.  He  placed  an  armchair  for  me  near  to  this 
table  and  to  the  King's  armchair.  Then,  after  having 
made  a  second  curtsey,  I  came  near,  and  His  Majesty 
kissed  me.  Next  began  the  questions  ;  the  King 
called  Monsieur  Decazes  his  son,  and  me  his  daughter. 
He  asked  me  whether  I  was  pleased  with  his  son." 

Madame  Decazes  gives  another  interesting  picture 
of  Louis  XVIII  : 

"  When  I  saw  the  King  for  the  first  time  he  could 
still  walk,  but  badly  and  leaning  on  a  stick,  though 
this  did  not  detract  from  his  dignity.  When  on 
Monday  evening  he  went  into  the  throne-room,  and 
stopped  on  the  threshold  to  bow  to  us,  he  did  it  with 
a  nobility,  a  dignity  which  made  one  forget  his  in- 
firmities. His  face  must  have  been  handsome.  It 
had  become  too  heavy  and  too  red.  But  in  his  very 
penetrating  gaze  was  much  keenness  and  even  irony, 
which  did  not  prevent  his  gaze  from  being  kindly."  ! 

Another  side  to  the  King's  character  is  shown  us 
by  an  incident  which  took  place  about  this  time.  The 
Due  de  Berry,  a  man  who  had  not  married  till  he 
was  nearly  forty,  as  the  King  exclaimed  indignantly, 
went  to  a  ball  given  by  a  ballet  dancer  with  whom 
he  had  been  intimate  before  his  marriage,  and  the 
King  expressed  his  anger  "  with  violence."  Calm, 
suave,  self-controlled  as  he  generally  was,  there  were 
times  when  he  gave  way  to  terrible  anger,  so  that 
every  one  trembled  before  him  ;  and  as  he  says  himself 
when  speaking  of  one  of  these  rare  fits  of  passion, 
11  They  must  have  heard  my  voice  on  the  Place 
Carrousel  !  " 

The  ultra-Royalists  soon  declared  war  on   the  new 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  341. 


The  "loi  Barthelemy"  327 

Cabinet  by  bringing  forward  a  law  known  from  the 
name  of  the  mover  as  the  "  loi  Barthelemy,"  designed 
to  modify  the  organisation  of  the  Electoral  Colleges 
by  which  the  Deputies  were  chosen.  This  motion 
caused  the  utmost  indignation  throughout  France, 
as,  though  the  electoral  laws  were  far  from  perfect, 
they  were  looked  upon  by  the  majority  of  the  country 
as  a  pledge  of  liberal  rights,  and  any  modification 
of  their  provisions  proposed  by  the  ultra-Royalists, 
was  regarded,  and  indeed  on  this  occasion  rightly,  as 
an  attempt  to  infringe  on  the  Constitution.  M0I6 
was  again  intriguing,  to  the  King's  intense  indignation. 

"  Mole's  rascality  fills  me  with  horror,"  he  writes 
to  Decazes.  The  ultras  were  full  of  joy,  especially 
when  the  Budget,  as  well  as  the  Ministerial  law  on 
finance  framed  by  the  able  financier  Baron  Louis,  were 
not  passed  by  the  Chambers.  A  strong  majority  of 
ultras  were  to  be  found  in  the  "  Chamber  of  Peers  "  ; 
but  in  rejecting  the  proposed  taxation  this  Chamber 
was  certainly  exceeding  its  powers.  There  was  the 
utmost  excitement  throughout  the  country  at  these 
manoeuvres,  and  Louis  XVIII  spoke  with  no  uncertain 
voice  in  the  Council  Chamber  : 

"  I  will  crush  the  majority.  This  has  not  to  do 
with  you,  gentlemen  ;  it  has  to  do  with  me.  I  shall 
not  abandon  you,  any  more  than  you  will  abandon 
me.  It  is  necessary  either  to  crush  this  fictitious 
majority,  or  to  crush  the  real  majority  which  the 
country  sent  me  in  return  to  my  appeal  of  September 
5th.      My  choice  cannot  be  doubtful." 

This  was  true  ;  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
the  members  of  which  were  chosen  by  the  country, 
Ministry,  and  King,  was  being  defied  by  the 
Chamber  of  Peers  ;    and  each   peer  had  been  elected 


328  Louis  XVIII 

by  Louis  XVIII  himself.  To  one  of  his  temper  the 
position  was  unbearable,  and  when  the  Ministers,  for 
once  forgetting  their  dissensions  and  uniting  against 
a  common  danger,  begged  the  King  to  break  the 
power  of  the  ultras  in  the  Upper  Chamber  by  ap- 
pointing sixty  new  peers  of  moderate  or  liberal  politics, 
he  assented  to  this  step.  Some  of  this  "  batch  of 
peers,"  as  they  were  called  in  derision,  were  chosen 
among  men  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  peerage 
conferred  on  them  at  the  time  of  the  First  Restoration, 
because  they  had  allowed  themselves  to  be  reinvested 
with  it  by  Napoleon  during  the  Hundred  Days,  others 
were  Marshals  and  Generals  of  the  Empire,  or  liberal 
statesmen.  This  creation  raised  a  fury  of  indignation 
among  the  ultra-Royalists.  Monsieur  said  to  the 
Due  d'Angouleme  : 

"  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  burial  of  our  family," 
and  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  wept  in  the  presence 
of  her  husband,  a  weakness  she  seldom  permitted 
herself. 

The  King  was  a  little  alarmed  at  his  own  audacity  ; 
especially  when  he  found  that  the  representatives  of 
the  foreign  Powers,  influenced  by  the  wave  of  re- 
action now  sweeping  over  Europe,  considered  the 
creation  of  these  new  peers  a  dangerous  measure. 

The  ultra-liberals  were  the  next  people  to  trouble 
the  much-harassed  Cabinet,  for  they  sent  up  a  petition 
to  the  King  begging  him  to  pardon  all  the  regicides 
who  had  been  banished  from  the  country  ;  and  when 
de  Serre,  one  of  the  Ministers,  imprudently  announced 
that  the  regicides  would  never  be  restored  to  their 
country,  he  made  enemies  of  the  "  Left,"  or  liberals, 
and  thus  isolated  the  unfortunate  Ministry  completely. 
Meanwhile  the   division  in  the   Cabinet   became   ever 


Division  in  the  Cabinet  329 

wider,  for  Dessoles,  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  and  the  Baron 
Louis  inclined  more  and  more  to  the  Left.  This 
disposition  to  break  up  into  small  parties  certainly- 
rendered  constitutional  government  difficult,  and  the 
King  thought  with  envy  of  the  doings  of  the  British 
Parliament.  "  It  is  not  thus,"  he  writes,  "  that  things 
happen  in  England.  In  1783,  the  famous  Coalition 
was  formed  between  Lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox  ;  it  was 
a  case  of  fire  and  water.  Well  !  they  took  up  the 
same  system,  and  were  united  even  after  leaving  the 
Ministry.  In  1806,  at  the  death  of  Pitt,  follows  the 
Ministry  of  All  the  Talents  ;  the  same  result.  Lord 
Granville  and  Lord  Grey  are  to-day  as  united  as  they 
were  then.  When  the  King  changes  his  Ministry,  he 
does  not  tell  two  people,  but  one,  to  form  another."  1 

Worse  was  to  follow  ;  for  one  of  the  deputies 
chosen  in  the  yearly  election  of  the  fifth  of  the 
Chamber  was  l'Abbe  Gregoire,  who  was  credited 
with  having  voted  for  Louis  XVTs  death,  and  who 
had  announced  in  the  Convention  that  "  Kings  were 
morally  what  monsters  were  physically."  Gregoire 
was  not  allowed  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Chamber  ; 
but  his  election  was  hailed  with  delight  not  only 
by  the  Revolutionaries  but  also  by  the  ultra-Royalists, 
who  were  as  willing  now  as  they  had  been  during 
their  exile  to  join  with  the  liberals  against  the 
moderates ;  their  one  object  being  to  wreck  the 
Ministry  and  to  ruin  Decazes.  Gregoire's  election 
was  certainly  a  warning  to  the  Government,  and  the 
Comte  d'Artois  had  more  right  on  his  side  than 
usual  when,  the  exigencies  of  the  situation  causing 
him  to  break  the  obstinate  silence  on  politics  by  which 

1  Louis  XVIII  to  Decazes.     Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes, 
P-  374- 


33°  Louis  XVIII 

he  had  for  long  shown  his  intense  disapproval  of  all 
the  King's  doings,  he  said  solemnly  : 

"  Brother,  you  see  where  you  are  being  led." 

"  Yes,  brother,"  answered  the  King  ;  "  I  will  see 
to  it. 

This  remark  was  taken  to  mean  that  the  King  in- 
tended to  change  his  policy.  But  though  troubled 
and  worried  he  was  impenitent  ;  and,  as  he  expressed 
the  matter  with  much  truth  in  a  letter  to  Decazes 
on  Gregoire's  election,  "  It  is  Messieurs  the  ultras 
whom  we  may  thank  for  this."  l 

Decazes,  too,  realised  that  something  must  at  once 
be  done  to  stem  the  Revolutionary  tide,  and  instead 
of  resigning,  which,  though  his  wisest  course,  was 
doubtless  opposed  by  the  King,  he  determined  to  take 
down  the  colours  so  long  nailed  to  his  mast,  and  himself 
to  bring  forward  an  alteration  in  the  law  of  elections, 
which  should  substitute  a  complete  change  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  every  seven  years,  for  a  partial 
renewal  each  year.  This  law  was  to  form  part  of  a 
great  scheme  of  constitutional  reform  ;  and  for  the 
carrying  out  of  this  he  required  the  assistance  of 
the  Royalists,  which  he  could  not  obtain  without 
Richelieu's  help.  However,  Richelieu  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  politics,  and  Dessoles,  Gouvion 
Saint-Cyr,  and  the  Baron  Louis  retired,  saying  that  they 
would  have  no  hand  in  any  alteration  of  the  election 
laws.  A  new  Cabinet  was  formed,  in  which  Decazes 
still  kept  his  post  as  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  also 
became  President  of  the  Council. 

The    astute    old    King    had    misgivings    about    the 
situation,   and    certainly  Decazes   had    put    himself  in 
an  awkward  position,  in  his  attempt  to  conciliate  the 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  366. 


A  Catastrophe  331 

ultra-Royalists  by  a  proposed  change  in  the  election 
laws.  Louis  XVIII  writes  to  him  on  the  subject  of 
his  new  dignities  : 

"  The  King  has  read  the  Moniteur.  Your  good 
Father  signed  the  ordinance  trembling.  You  know 
the  esteem  of  one,  the  tenderness  of  the  other,  the 
confidence  of  both."  l 

The  situation  was  terribly  difficult ;  and,  to  add  to 
its  complications,  the  foreign  Ambassadors  announced 
that  they  considered  any  alteration  in  the  law  of  the 
elections  an  attack  on  the  Charter,  and  the  ultras 
refused  to  be  propitiated  or  to  help  the  Ministry,  and 
pursued  Decazes  with  malicious  hatred.  They  even 
accused  his  policy  of  causing  the  Revolution  which 
had  just  broken  out  in  Spain  ;  while  the  liberals  were 
alienated  by  his  proposed  law  to  alter  the  elections, 
and  by  his  evident  desire  to  become  reconciled  to 
the  ultras. 

Before,  however,  the  date  of  the  momentous  dis- 
cussion on  the  election  laws  had  been  fixed,  a  terrible 
catastrophe  took  place — a  catastrophe  which  ruined 
Decazes,  and  completely  and  permanently  changed  the 
political  situation. 

On  February  13th,  1820,  near  the  end  of  the 
Carnival,  when  all  Paris  was  in  a  state  of  gaiety,  a  gala 
performance  took  place  at  the  Opera  ;  and  at  this  the  Due 
and  Duchesse  de  Berry  were  present.  The  Duchesse, 
who  was  not  very  well,  wished  to  retire  early,  and  left 
before  the  end  of  the  ballet.  The  Due  de  Berry  con- 
ducted her  to  the  carriage.  As  he  was  returning  to 
the  Opera  House,  a  man  pushed  his  way  between  a 
soldier  and  one  of  the  attendants,  seized  the  Prince  by 
the  shoulder,  thrust  a  poignard  up  to  the  hilt  in  his 
1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  376. 


332  Louis  XVIII 

right  breast,  and  fled,  leaving  the  weapon  in  the 
wound.  At  first  the  Due  de  Berry  did  not  realise 
what  had  happened,  but  in  a  minute  he  staggered  and 
cried  : 

"  I  am  assassinated  !      1  have  the  poignard  !  " 

The  Duchesse  de  Berry  rushed  out  of  the  carriage 
and  threw  herself  on  her  husband.  He  was  carried  to 
the  drawing-room  attached  to  the  Royal  box,  whence  the 
sounds  of  the  music  of  the  Opera  could  be  heard  ;  and 
when  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  so  badly  wounded 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  move  him  to  the  Elysee 
Palace,  he  was  taken  to  the  large  hall  in  the  Opera 
House.  Meanwhile  the  assassin  had  been  caught. 
His  name  was  Louvel  ;  he  was  a  saddler's  assistant ; 
and,  when  questioned,  he  stated  that  he  wished  to 
deliver  his  country  from  the  yoke  of  the  Bourbons, 
all  of  whom  he  intended  to  assassinate  in  turn.  At 
his  trial  it  was  proved  that  he  had  no  accomplices,  and 
no  evidence  could  be  found  of  any  widespread  plot  ; 
the  murder  was  evidently  the  isolated  act  of  a  madman. 

Monsieur,  Madame,  and  the  Due  d'Angoulemearrived 
at  the  Opera  House  with  all  possible  speed,  also  the 
Due  d'Orleans,  in  whose  eyes  Chateaubriand,  possibly 
regarding  him  through  spectacles  darkened  with  ultra 
prejudices,  discerned  "  a  badly  disguised  jubilant  ex- 
pression "  ;  and  the  hall  was,  in  addition,  thronged 
with  Ministers,  grand  dignitaries,  and  eminent  per- 
sonages of  the  Court.  The  Due  de  Berry  was  not 
to  be  allowed  a  peaceful  death. 

Decazes  was  thunderstruck  by  the  news,  of  which 
he  at  once  perceived  the  real  import. 

"  We  are  all  assassinated  !  "  *  he  cried.  He  was  sent 
by  Monsieur  to  inform  the  King  of  the  catastrophe, 
1  Memoires  cT Outre-Tombe}  vol.  iv.  p.  155. 


From  an  engraving  by  Blanchard,  after  a  drawing  by  Desenne. 

THE  DEATH  OF  THE  DUC  DE  BERRY 


Due  de  Berry's  Assassination  333 

but  was  enjoined  to  try  to  prevent  him  from  coming, 
as  his  presence  would  mean  an  introduction  of  "  the 
constraint  of  etiquette "  ;  which  the  poor  father  was 
anxious  to  avoid.  When  Decazes  arrived  at  the 
Tuileries,  he  found  the  King,  who  had  already  heard 
the  news,  in  bed,  very  much  agitated,  and  in  a  state 
of  high  fever.  Nevertheless,  it  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  Decazes  persuaded  him  to  remain  where 
he  was,  promising  that  he  should  certainly  be  at 
once  informed  if  the  Due  de  Berry's  state  were  to 
become  desperate.  A  little  later,  Decazes  was  sent  by 
Monsieur  to  inform  the  King  that  the  end  was  very 
near. 

The  scene  when  Louis  XVIII  arrived  was  heart- 
rending. The  Duchesse  de  Berry,  who  was  almost 
beside  herself  with  grief,  threw  herself  at  his  feet,  and 
implored  him  to  allow  her  to  return  with  her  baby 
daughter  to  Sicily.  Indeed,  during  this  tragic  night 
she  expressed  her  despair  with  so  much  violence,  that 
her  husband  implored  her  to  take  care  of  herself  for 
the  sake  of  the  child  she  was  bearing  ;  and  thus 
revealed  the  fact  that  there  was  still  hope  of  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  direct  Bourbon  line.  The  Due  de 
Berry  appeared  to  revive  slightly  at  the  entrance  of 
the  King,  and  implored  him  to  pardon  "  the  man,"  as 
he  termed  his  assassin.  But  the  King  would  promise 
nothing  : 

"  You  will  live,"  he  said  ;  "  and  we  will  talk  again 
about  it.  The  thing  is  important ;  it  requires  much 
deliberation."  l 

The  King's  grief  was  extreme.  Great  tears  rolled 
down  his  cheeks.  Nevertheless,  he  did  not,  even  at 
this  iuncture,  forget  the  exigencies  of  etiquette  ;  and 
1  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Rcstauration,  vol.  viii.  p.  28. 


334  Louis  XVIII 

when  one  of  the  doctors  told  him  that  all  was  over, 
and  asked  whether  his  Majesty  would  show  the  Prince 
"  the  last  respects,"  Louis  XVIII  corrected  him.  "  The 
last  attentions,"  he  said,  using  the  prescribed  formula  ; 
and  he  went  to  the  bedside  and  closed  his  dead  nephew's 
eyes.1 

The  King  was  accompanied  by  Decazes  back  to  the 
Tuileries.  No  one  knows  what  Louis  XVIII  said  in 
the  first  transports  of  his  grief  to  the  man  he  loved  as 
a  son  ;  but  later,  he  spoke  with  his  usual  clear-sighted- 
ness of  the  tactics  of  the  ultras. 

"  They  will  take  advantage  of  my  sorrow,"  he  said. 
"  It  is  not  your  system  they  will  attack,  my  dear  son, 
it  is  mine.  They  are  not  angry  only  with  you,  but 
with  me "  ;  and  when  Decazes  suggested  his  own 
resignation  as  the  only  means  of  calming  matters,  the 
King  cried  : 

"  I  order  you  to  remain  in  the  Ministry !  They 
shall  not  separate  us  !  " 2 

The  King  announced,  however,  that  the  measures 
taken  against  the  Revolutionaries  must  be  "  draconian  "  ; 
and  at  a  Council  held  by  Decazes  at  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning — two  hours  after  the  death  of  the  Due  de 
Berry — it  was  decided,  partly  no  doubt  in  the  hope 
of  disarming  ultra-Royalist  fury,  that  the  Chambers 
should  be  asked  to  pass  a  temporary  enactment  sus- 
pending personal  liberty,  and  another  subjecting  the 
press  to  severe  supervision.  Later  in  the  day  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  met,  and  an  ultra,  Clausel  de 
Coussergues,  caused  a  sensation  by  proposing  to  bring 
an  act  of  accusation  against  "  Monsieur  Decazes, 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  as  accomplice  to  the  murder  of 

1  Souvenirs  du  Baron  de  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  398. 
3  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes ;  p.  407. 


Ultra-Royalist  Violence  335 

Monseigneur  the  Due  de  Berry."  1  Cries  of  "  order  " 
rose  from  most  of  the  benches,  and  when  the  orator 
returned  to  his  seat  he  was  received  with  coldness  even 
by  his  friends  ;  but  many  outside  the  Chamber  agreed 
with  him. 

Monsieur  de  Barante  says,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  : 
"  Nothing  will  give  you  any  idea  of  the  state  of 
excitement  and  ferocity  reached  by  the  ultras  outside 
the  Chambers  ;  they  talk  of  nothing  but  massacres, 
assassinations,  and  vengeance ;  for  a  time  it  seemed 
likely  that  civil  war  might  begin  in  the  streets  of  Paris. 
Their  war-cry  is  that  Decazes  was  the  Due  de  Berry's 
assassin,  and  from  this  nonsense  they  obtain  the  alarming 
effect  they  wish  for.  They  excite  themselves  by  this 
announcement,  they  believe  it  after  having  said  it  ; 
it  is  the  one  cry  of  the  women,  it  is  a  reality  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  Bodyguard."  2 

Decazes'  life  seems  really  to  have  been  in  danger  ; 
but  the  King  was  still  firm,  though  terribly  agitated. 
At  the  Royal  Council  held  the  next  day,  he  said  : 

"  The  Royalists  deal  me  the  most  deadly  blow  ;  they 
know  that  Monsieur  Decazes'  system  is  also  mine,  and 
they  accuse  him  of  having  assassinated  my  nephew.  It 
is  not  the  first  time  they  have  calumniated  me.  I  intend 
to  save  the  country  without  the  ultras  if  possible." 

However,  a  deadly  combination  was  forming  against 
Decazes,  headed  by  Vitrolles,  who  was  intensely  jealous 
of  him,  and  advised  Monsieur  to  proceed  to  extreme 
measures,  and  to  leave  the  Tuileries  unless  the  in- 
solent favourite  were  turned  out.  He  evidently 
incited  Monsieur  also  to  the  performance  of  the  next 
scene  in  the  drama. 

1  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  vol.  viii.  p.  285. 

2  Souvenirs  du  Baron  de  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  415. 


336  Louis  XVIII 

When  Decazes  went  to  see  the  King  one  day  after 
dinner,  he  found  him  terribly  agitated  ;  "  his  face  of  a 
red  purple,  his  eyes  bloodshot  !  " 

"  Oh,  my  God  !  "  he  cried  ;  "  what  is  the  matter 
with  the  King  ?  "  l 

Louis  XVIII,  still  trembling  with  anger,  told  him 
that  a  moment  earlier,  his  brother  and  his  niece  had 
knelt  before  him,  crying  that  they  would  not  rise  till 
he  had  promised  to  dismiss  Decazes.  The  Comte 
d'Artois  had  indeed  spoken  with  kindness  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  had  said  that  he  would 
be  the  first  to  recall  him  after  three  months  had 
elapsed  ;  but  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme  had  made 
use  of  the  ominous  words — "  Sire,  we  ask  it  to  prevent 
there  being  another  victim  "  ; 2  and  when  the  King, 
misunderstanding  her  words,  thought  she  was  alluding 
to  himself,  she  explained  that  she  was  not  afraid  for 
him,  but  for  some  one  dear  to  him. 

During  this  scene  the  Due  d'Angouleme  stood  with 
his  eyes  cast  down,  and  refused  to  heed  the  imploring 
glances  the  King  directed  towards  him,  in  the  hope  of 
inducing  him  to  come  to  the  rescue.  This  hurt  the 
King  terribly,  as  the  Due  d'Angouleme  was  the  one 
member  of  his  family  on  whom  he  depended  for 
sympathetic  understanding,  so  far  had  he  travelled 
from  the  days  when  the  "  angel  of  consolation  "  was  all 
in  all  to  him.  In  a  letter  to  Decazes  he  says,  "  Caesar 
was  happier  than  I  ;  he  only  once  said  tu  quoque. 
Shakespeare  knew  well  the  human  heart.  Here  is  the 
curse  of  King  Lear  on  his  daughter  :  '  That  she  may 
feel  how  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth  it  is,  To  have 
a  thankless  child.'       I  do   not   pronounce    this   male- 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  424. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  425. 


Extraordinary  Scene  337 

diction  ;  God  preserve  me  from  it  ;  but  I  feel  how 
cruel  it  is."  1 

However,  the  King  was  slightly  consoled,  when  the 
Due  d'Angouleme  came  of  his  own  accord,  to  explain 
that  he  had  not  been  let  into  the  secret  of  the  proposed 
onslaught,  and  disapproved  of  it  ;  but  that  his  respect 
for  his  father  had  kept  him  silent. 

When  Louis  XVIII  related  to  Decazes  what  had 
passed  at  this  extraordinary  scene,  he  still  declared  that 
he  would  not  give  in,  for  that  would  mean  submission 
to  his  brother,  and  virtually  abdication.  However, 
it  was  now  impossible  for  Decazes  to  remain  at  the 
head  of  affairs,  as  even  the  King  began  to  see. 

Therefore,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  at  Decazes'  sug- 
gestion, managed,  by  promising  Richelieu  his  whole- 
hearted support,  to  overcome  his  intense  objection  to 
re-entering  political  life,  an  objection  partly  caused  by 
his  knowledge  of  the  King's  precarious  health,  and 
of  the  perpetual  intrigues  and  opposition  of  the  heir- 
apparent.  "  Your  policy  shall  be  mine,"  Monsieur 
said  to  Richelieu  ;  "  I  will  be  your  head  lieutenant."  2 

Decazes  was  to  go  to  England  as  Ambassador.  He 
received  a  note  from  the  King,  as  he  was  getting 
into  the  carriage  to  start  on  his  journey.  It  con- 
tained the  words,  "  Good-bye,  my  dear  son  ;  I  bless 
you  a  thousand  times  from  the  depths  of  a  broken 
heart !  " 

Louis  XVIII  was  always  sentimental,  and  the  courtiers 
laughed  because  the  passwords  at  the  Tuileries  that 
day  were  "  Elie,"  Decazes'  christian  name,  and 
"  Chartres,"  the  place  where  he  would  spend  the  first 
night.     It   is   always   easy   to   scoff;    but    the    King's 

1  Daudet,  Louis  XVIII  et  le  Due  Decazes,  p.  433. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  435. 

22 


33*  Louis  XVIII 

misery  was  very  real.     "  All  is  over  for  me,"  l  he  said 
to  the  Spanish  Ambassador. 

Decazes  had  now  been  made  a  Duke,  and  this  fact 
led  incidentally  to  a  sad  disappointment  for  the  Due  de 
Castries,  who  has  not  otherwise  a  place  in  this  history. 
"  On  the  day  before  Decazes'  departure  the  Due  de 
Castries  received  a  fine  portrait  of  the  King  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  magnificent 
work  of  Daniel  upon  India,  most  beautifully  illustrated, 
was  brought  to  his  house.  Both  these  presents  were 
brought  by  footmen  from  the  King.  Unaccustomed 
to  receive  such  favours,  the  Due  returned  most  effusive 
thanks,  saying  he  would  come  himself  to  express  to  his 
Majesty  in  person  his  gratitude  for  this  kindness.  At 
midnight  a  messenger  came  to  his  room  in  a  great 
bustle  "  from  the  King."  This  time  he  brought  a 
beautiful  case,  containing  the  gold  medals  which  had 
been  struck  since  the  Revolution,  with  ducal  crowns  in 
relief  upon  every  face.  The  Due  de  Castries  rubbed 
his  eyes,  and  could  not  understand  the  reason  for  these 
marks  of  distinction.  After  long  reflection,  he  went 
to  sleep  again,  to  dream  upon  the  matter.  At  three 
o'clock  he  was  again  aroused,  but  this  time  a  footman 
came  with  an  infinity  of  excuses  to  request  the  return 
of  the  presents.  The  King's  messengers  had  been 
misled  by  the  title  "  Due,"  which  Monsieur  Decazes 
had  only  received  the  previous  evening,  and  had  brought 
Monsieur  de  Castries  the  objects  which  his  Majesty  had 
intended  for  the  favourite.  The  Due  de  Castries 
remained  the  poorer  by  the  louis  which  he  had  dis 
tributed  to  the  bearers  of  these  transitory  splendours. 

1  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  vol.  viii.  p.  332. 

2  Trans.  Memoirs  of  the  Comtesse  de  Boigne,  voi.  iii.  p.  29. 


"  2 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Ultra-Royalist  intrigue  to  influence  the  King  through  Madame  du 
Cayla — La  Rochefoucauld's  share  in  it — The  King's  growing  affec- 
tion for  Madame  du  Cayla — The  Session  of  1820 — Violent 
dissensions — The  birth  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux — Tumults  in 
the  Chamber — Royalist  triumph  at  the  elections — Disturbances 
throughout  Europe — Duplicity  of  the  Duchesse  de  Berry — Decazes 
visits  Paris — King's  growing  infirmities — His  drowsiness  and 
indifference — Napoleon's  death — Monsieur  harries  the  Ministry — 
The  extreme  Right  and  extreme  Left  unite  to  wreck  the  Cabinet — 
Richelieu's  indignation  with  Monsieur — His  resignation  and  death 
— Madame  du  Cayla's  share  in  forming  new  Cabinet — King's 
virtual  abdication  to  Monsieur. 

IT  is  now  time  to  speak  of  an  extraordinary  intrigue 
which  was  beginning  to  weave  itself  round  the 
old  monarch,  and  which  had  the  effect  of  virtually 
causing  him  to  abdicate  in  favour  of  Monsieur  ;  so  that, 
as  an  acute  and  well-informed  observer  remarks,1  after 
December  1821  it  was  Charles  X,  not  Louis  XVIII, 
who  in  reality  held  the  reins  of  government.  In 
February  1820,  when  the  Due  de  Richelieu  became 
President  of  the  Council,  the  plot  had  only  lately 
begun  to  run  its  underground  course,  and  the  existence 
of  a  new  favourite,  introduced  by  ultra-Royalist  agency 
to  the  King,  was  kept  a  profound  secret. 

This  favourite  was  a  woman  named  Madame  du 
Cayla  ;  the  daughter  of  Talon,  who  had  been  Head 
of  the  Police  before  the  Revolution.  It  was  there- 
fore   said    that     she    first    ingratiated     herself     with 

1  Pasquier,  Memoires,  vol.  vi.  p.  II. 
339 


34Q  Louis  XVIII 

Louis  XVIII  by  giving  into  his  possession  papers 
which  might  have  incriminated  him  in  "  1' Affaire 
Favras."  There  is,  however,  no  proof  of  this  ;  and 
the  ostensible  reason  for  her  first  interview  with 
Louis  XVIII,  which  took  place  in  1819,  was  to  beg 
for  Royal  protection  for  her  children,  who  had  been 
deprived,  by  their  grandfather's  will,  of  the  property 
which  should  rightfully  have  come  to  them.  Madame 
du  Cayla  was  a  charming  woman,  who  had  a  merry  laugh 
and  much  natural  gaiety  ;  besides  being  clever,  tactful, 
and  discreet.  She  was,  indeed,  so  discreet,  so  attentive 
to  her  mother-in-law,  with  whom  she  lived,  and  who 
adored  her,  so  careful  also  to  surround  herself  with  a 
circle  of  highly  respectable  elderly  people,  that  in  spite 
of  4:he  fact  that  she  was  separated  from  the  Comte 
du  Cayla,  and  that  her  past  had  not  been  altogether 
immaculate,  she  was  looked  upon  in  society  as  a  young 
woman  of  devout  habits,  and  almost  prudish  virtue. 

Madame  du  Cayla  was  first  introduced  to  Louis  XVIII 
by  her  mother-in-law,  who  had  been  lady-in-waiting 
to  the  Comtesse  de  Provence  ;  and  the  King  received 
the  fair  suppliant  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  see  her  again.  It  was  after  this  first 
interview,  that  "a  sort  of  instinctive  prevision,  of  interior 
light  on  the  subject  of  her  future  destiny,"  came  to 
Madame  du  Cayla's  devoted  friend  Sosthene  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld. He  was  an  ultra  of  the  deepest  dye,  and  he 
and  Madame  du  Cayla  had  known  each  other  for  a 
long  time,  and  had  exchanged  letters  breathing  the 
most  ardent  affection  ;  though  the  gentleman  is  careful 
to  assure  us  that  the  feeling  on  both  sides  was  purely 
platonic.  In  La  Rochefoucauld's  opinion,  as  in  that  of 
the  ultras  generally,  Louis  XVIII  was  being  deceived 
and    alienated   from   his   family   by   Decazes,  who  was 


Madame  du  Cayla  34 J 

hurrying  France  to  ruin  and  revolution  ;  and,  as 
La  Rochefoucauld  puts  it  :  "  It  seemed  to  me  that 
Madame  du  Cayla  was  the  only  person  who  could 
succeed  in  dissipating  the  illusions  with  which 
Louis  XVIII  was  surrounded  ;  and  which  it  was 
necessary  to  destroy  for  his  honour,  his  happiness, 
and  for  that  of  his  family  and  of  France."  1 

La  Rochefoucauld  was  a  man  of  considerable  energy, 
and  according  to  his  own  account  was  absolutely 
patriotic  and  altruistic,  though,  judging  from  sub- 
sequent events,  and  from  the  letters  he  so  obligingly 
and  naively  publishes,  we  cannot  avoid  a  suspicion 
that  a  thought  may  occasionally  have  crossed  his 
mind,  to  the  effect  that  the  position  of  dearest  friend 
to  the  King's  dearest  friend  might  not  be  without 
advantages.  We  are  almost  ashamed,  however,  at  even 
hinting  this,  so  lofty  are  Sosthene  de  la  Rochefoucauld's 
sentiments,  and  so  beautiful  was  the  prayer  with  which 
he  despatched  Madame  du  Cayla  on  her  noble  mission, 
which,  from  his  account,  she  undertook  with  considerable 
reluctance. 

To  persuade  Madame  du  Cayla  to  act  the  part  of 
Esther  to  Ahasuerus  or  of  Madame  de  Maintenon 
to  Louis  XIV,  was  the  easiest  part  of  the  business. 
She  had  also  to  be  equipped  for  her  role;  and  this 
implied  considerable  labour,  as  the  King,  though  in 
a  most  precarious  state  of  health  and  subject  to  fits 
of  exhaustion  and  drowsiness,  was  still  well  informed 
and  witty ;  and  the  task  of  amusing,  and  then  thoroughly 
enthralling  him,  required  considerable  knowledge,  as 
well  as  charm  and  talent. 

Madame  du  Cayla  had  learnt  from  her  mother-in- 
law    many   details    about    events    that    had    passed    in 

1  La  Rochefoucauld  Memoires,  vol.  vi.  p.  247. 


342  Louis  XVIII 

Louis  XVIII's  youth,  and  these  would,  it  was  hoped, 
amuse  the  old  King;  while  before  the  next  interview  for 
which  La  Rochefoucauld  insisted  that  she  should  apply, 
he  had  applied  to  Madame  de  Balbi  for  further  informa- 
tion ;  so  that  Madame  du  Cayla  departed  to  her  second 
visit  well  primed.  "  The  anxiety  with  which  I  awaited 
the  result  of  this  interview  can  well  be  imagined," 
says  La  Rochefoucauld.  "  Every  detail  was  precious  ! 
It  was  important  to  know  each  word  that  had  passed." 

On  her  return,  Madame  du  Cayla's  report  was  satis- 
factory. "  Madame,"  the  King  had  said  to  her,  "  1  had 
a  tender  affection  for  your  mother-in-law.1  I  knew  how 
to  appreciate  her,  and  I  became  acquainted  with  you 
through  her  ;  her  recommendation  will  be  sacred  to 
me.  Shortly  before  her  death  she  described  your 
situation  and  misfortunes  to  me,  and  she  has  inspired 
me  with  so  real  an  interest  in  you,  that  you  may  with- 
out fear  claim  the  proofs  of  it  whenever  you  may  find 
them  useful."  2 

This  speech  was  most  satisfactory,  and  the  only 
puzzling  thing  to  Madame  du  Cayla  was  a  remark 
which  the  King  made,  when  she  spoke  pathetically 
of  her  cruel  husband's  threat  to  tear  her  children  from 
her  ;  and,  thinking  of  Decazes,  he  said,  "  And  they 
wish  to  take  my  child  away  from  me,  too,  Madame!  "  3 
He  little  thought  that  the  amiable  and  charming  lady 
before  him,  who,  he  remarks,  "  never  spoke  ill  of  any 
one,"  was  Decazes'  most  bitter  opponent. 

The  Vicomte  de  la  Rochefoucauld  now  felt  en- 
couraged to  put  forth  all  his  powers  in  the  great  work 
of  saving  France;  and  he  became  so  indefatigable,  that 

1  The  elder  Madame  du  Cayla  had  died  shortly  before  this. 
1  Memoires  de  La  Rochefoucauld,  vol  vi.  p.  248. 
3   Vitrolles  Memoires,  vol.  iii,  p.  496. 


The  Vicomte  de  la  Rochefoucauld       343 

we  are  not  surprised  at  the  constant  references  to 
fatigue  which  appear  in  his  letters.  Between  coaching 
Madame  du  Cayla  in  her  duties,  listening  to  her 
reports  of  what  was  said  during  her  interviews  with 
the  King,  talking  to  clever  people  to  gain  information 
which  might  be  passed  on  to  Louis  XVIII  as  though 
from  her,  and  appearing  to  join  in  all  frivolous  amuse- 
ments, so  that  no  one  might  suspect  what  was  really 
his  great  preoccupation,  poor  Sosthene  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld led  a  busy  and  a  harassed  life.  However, 
his  efforts  were  crowned  with  success,  for  Madame 
du  Cayla's  occasional  visits  to  Louis  XVIII  became 
gradually  more  frequent,  and  were  at  last  fixed  as 
weekly  ;  and  Louis  XVIII  might  never  be  disturbed 
on  Wednesday  afternoons,  which  were  devoted  to 
her  agreeable  society. 

Letters,  too,  were  exchanged  daily  ;  letters  which 
the  King  imagined  to  be  confidential ;  but  which  were 
on  Madame  du  Cayla's  side  the  work  of  La  Roche- 
foucauld; and  a  hard  task  he  found  the  labour  of 
composition.  "  It  required  an  enormous  amount  of 
attention,  memory,  research,  and  work,"  he  says 
plaintively,  "  to  discuss  in  this  correspondence  litera- 
ture, history,  politics,  morals,  and  even  religion,  with 
the  best  informed  and  most  witty  man  in  his 
kingdom."  ! 

Sometimes,  too,  difficulties  arose  between  La  Roche- 
foucauld and  Madame  du  Cayla,  for  once  firmly 
established  with  the  King,  she  unfortunately  showed 
a  reprehensible  desire  for  independence,  and  was 
ungratefully  and  foolishly  inclined  to  go  her  own 
way,  without  consulting  the  faithful  friend  to  whom 
as  he  reproachfully  reminded  her,  she  owed  everything. 
1  La  Rochefoucauld  Memoires,  vol.  vi.  p.  252, 


344  Louis  XVIII 

The  influence  Madame  du  Cayla  assumed  over  the 
King  was  of  gradual  growth.  As  long  as  Decazes 
remained  in  power,  she  was  in  all  probability  only  a 
casual  visitor,  and  one  whose  influence  did  not  much 
alarm  him.  The  King  was  most  anxious  that  his  two 
friends  should  meet,  as  he  considered  that  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  might  be  useful  to  Madame  du  Cayla 
in  a  lawsuit  she  was  about  to  bring  against  her  husband, 
but  she  refused  to  have  any  dealings  with  iniquity. 
Louis  XVIII  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  Can  you 
refuse  to  receive  one  whom  the  King,  so  full  of 
tenderness  and  of  goodness  to  you,  honours  with  his 
affection  ?  Give  in  at  least  on  a  single  point,  and 
meet  him  in  my  presence."  But  Madame  du  Cayla 
was  firm.  Her  work  was  to  be  the  great  one  of  saving 
the  State  from  the  machinations  of  Decazes,  and  she 
refused  to  become  acquainted  with  him. 

The  secret  was  most  cleverly  kept,  and  after  Decazes' 
fall,  when  Richelieu  had  become  First  Minister,  he  only 
discovered  Madame  du  Cayla's  existence  by  chance  ; 
and  when  it  was  suggested  that  he  should  use  her  as  a 
political  instrument,  he  refused,  with  his  usual  high- 
mindedness,  to  sully  his  fingers  by  dealings  with  an 
intriguer.  The  scope  of  Madame  du  Cayla's  work, 
which  was  certainly  executed  with  great  ability,  was 
detailed  for  her  most  minutely  in  La  Rochefoucauld's 
letters.  She  was  to  destroy,  if  possible,  the  King's 
affectionate  remembrance  of  Decazes,  to  reconcile 
Louis  XVIII  with  Monsieur  and  the  rest  of  the 
Royal  Family,  and  to  place  him  in  the  hands  of 
the  ultra-Royalists.  If  she  could  prevent  the  King 
from  corresponding  with  Decazes  she  was  to  do  so  ; 
but  if  this  could  not  be  compassed,  she  was  to 
try    to    see    the    fallen     Minister's     letters.       "  You 


Madame  du  Cay  la's  Mission  345 

will  confess  to  the  King  that  you  are  very  curious  to 
see  the  letters  Monsieur  Decazes  writes  to  him,  if 
he  does  still  write  to  him,"  are  La  Rochefoucauld's 
directions.1 

It  must  be  allowed  to  Monsieur's  credit,  that  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  first  privy  to  the 
plot  woven  round  his  helpless  and  invalided  brother, 
though  when  he  did  know  a  certain  aspect  of  it,  which 
was  no  doubt  presented  to  him  in  a  picturesquely 
disposed  light,  he  did  not  apparently  scruple  to  reap 
the  advantages  of  it.  "  The  King  is  behaving  per- 
fectly to  him,  and  the  poor  Prince  is  enchanted," 
says  La  Rochefoucauld  ;  and,  "  Another  proof  that 
Monsieur  appreciates  what  we  are  doing  is  that  he  said 
to  me,  '  The  King  is  delightful  to-day,  because  the 
influence  near  him  is  perfect ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
know  well  what  would  happen.'  " 3 

It  is  time  now  to  turn  to  the  political  situation,  on 
which  the  intrigue  we  have  been  considering  exercised 
a  strong  influence.  The  Session  of  1 820,  when  Richelieu 
assumed  the  reins  of  government,  was  so  stormy  that 
it  almost  resembled  civil  war.  Richelieu  had  come 
into  power  determined  before  all  things  to  combat 
every  revolutionary  tendency,  and  with  this  object 
in  view,  after  bringing  forward  amidst  much  excite- 
ment and  opposition,  an  enactment  modifying  the 
much-vexed  law  of  elections,  and  then  depriving  the 
doctrinaires,  Camille  Jordan,  Royer-Collard,  Guizot, 
and  Barante,  of  their  positions  in  the  Council  of 
State,  he  obtained  after  many  parleyings  the  consent 
of  Villele  and  Corbiere,  members  of  the  ultra  party, 
to  form  part  of  the  Ministry. 


1  Memoires,  vol.  viii.  p.  128. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  106.  3  Ibid.,  p.  309. 


346  Louis  XVIII 

Villele,  though  belonging  nominally  to  the  extreme 
party  and  much  coerced  by  them,  was  of  a  calm  dis- 
position, could  be  depended  upon  to  take  a  reasonable 
view  of  the  different  subjects  under  discussion,  and  was 
in  the  future  to  rule  France,  nominally  as  Louis  XVIII's 
First  Minister,  but  in  reality  as  the  politician  who 
represented  Monsieur's  views.  Corbiere  was  more 
violent  and  difficult  to  work  with  ;  but  though  Richelieu, 
as  First  Minister,  and  Pasquier,  as  Foreign  Minister, 
received  these  gentlemen  most  loyally,  and  did  their 
best  to  initiate  them  thoroughly  into  the  former  work 
of  the  Cabinet,  the  new  recruits  would  never  allow 
themselves  to  be  amalgamated  with  it,  but  kept  to 
their  position  as  heads  of  a  party  ;  and  showed  plainly 
that  they  were  only  birds  of  passage  among  their 
present  surroundings,  and  were  waiting  for  the  not 
distant  time  when  the  ultras  would  come  into  full 
power. 

Revolutions  were  in  the  air.  Spain  and  Naples  were 
rising  against  their  legitimate  sovereigns,  insurrections 
took  place  in  Paris,  it  was  necessary  to  call  out  the 
military,  and  secret  societies  were  rife.  Most  serious 
symptom  of  all,  on  August  19th,  1820,  a  military  con- 
spiracy took  place,  to  which  Lafayette  was  privy. 
It  was  discovered  in  time,  but  it  aroused  a  sense  of 
insecurity  throughout  the  nation.  The  situation  in 
France  was  most  difficult,  and  the  exaggerations  and 
unreasonable  doings  of  the  ultras,  who  saw  republican 
conspiracies  and  uprisings  where  they  did  not  exist, 
would  certainly  not  steer  the  bark  safely  through  the 
stormy  waters  ;  for  that,  moderation  and  prudence  were 
necessary. 

Fortunately,  Louis  XVIII,  with  the  impartiality  and 
cool-headedness    characteristic    of    him,    accorded    the 


Birth  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux  347 

new  Ministry  a  loyal  and  whole-hearted  support, 
which  it  certainly  required,  as  it  was  violently  attacked 
by  the  extremists  of  both  parties  ;  and  its  policy  of 
keeping  nominally  to  the  Centre  but  sending  out  feelers 
to  the  Right,  while  sternly  repressing  the  Left,  seemed 
likely  to  be  no  more  successful  than  Decazes'  plan 
of  moderation,  with  excursions  to  the  Left. 

The  ceremony  of  the  opening  of  the  Chamber  took 
place  this  year  in  the  Louvre,  as  the  King's  infirmities 
and  increasing  weakness  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  be  carried  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  "  This 
Monarch,  crushed  by  years  and  infirmities,  while  his 
heart  and  intelligence  were  intact,  was  a  touching  sight, 
as  he  came,  before  quitting  life,  to  beg  from  his  subjects 
a  little  calm  and  repose  after  the  cruel  trials  he  had 
experienced."  l 

A  great  joy,  however,  came  to  Louis  XVIII  at  this 
time;  for  on  September  29th,  1820,  the  Duchesse  de 
Berry  brought  into  the  world  a  little  boy,  who  was 
given  the  title  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux.  All  the 
Royal  Family  hurried  to  the  Duchesse's  bedside, 
Louis  XVIII  being  the  last  to  arrive.  Ancient  customs 
were  strictly  observed  ;  and  after  kissing  his  niece, 
and  presenting  her  with  a  diamond  ornament  in  the 
form  of  a  flower,  the  baby  was  brought  to  him,  and, 
imitating  what  had  been  done  at  the  birth  of  Henry 
of  Navarre,  he  rubbed  the  infant's  lips  with  a  pod  of 
garlic,  and  poured  a  few  drops  of  Jurangon  wine 
down  its  throat.  The  Ministers  were  admitted  to 
the  anteroom  to  see  the  newly  born  infant,  and 
Pasquier  says  :  "  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  all  the 
touching  emotion  that  can  be  produced  by  a  moment 
of  happiness,  after  many  troubles  and  sorrowful  ordeals, 

1  Memoires  du  Cliancelicr  Pasquier,  vol.  v.  p.  68. 


348  Louis  XVIII 

on  a  face  generally  cold,  sad,  and  even  severe  ;  unless 
one  has  seen  Madame  d'Angouleme  holding  the  Royal 
child  on  her  knees,  showing  it  to  every  one,  and 
seeming  to  say,  '  You  see  this  ?  The  cup  of  adver- 
sity is  at  last  finished  ;  after  this  striking  favour  we 
have  the  right  to  count  on  Divine  justice.'  " l 

France,  with  but  few  exceptions,  rejoiced  with  the 
young  widow  ;  but  the  delight  of  the  ultra-Royalists 
was  almost  delirious  in  its  expression,  their  newspapers 
calling  the  baby  "  the  child  of  miracle,"  and  one  of 
them  blasphemously  likening  the  Duchesse  de  Berry 
to  the  Virgin   Mary. 

However,  a  few  clear-sighted  supporters  of  the 
Monarchy  in  France,  who  considered  that  its  only 
chance  of  permanency  was  to  be  found  in  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  elder  Bourbon  branch  and  the  passing 
of  the  crown  to  the  Orleans  family,  looked  on  the 
baby's  arrival  as  ominous.  Madame  de  Boigne  was 
walking  with  Pozzo  di  Borgo  in  the  Tuileries 
gardens,  when  they  heard  in  the  distance  the  sound 
of  the  Te  Deum,  which  was  being  sung  to  celebrate 
the  birth.  "  Listen  !  There  is  the  death-knell  of 
a  dynasty  !  "  2  said  Pozzo. 

Meanwhile,  the  Assembly  in  the  Chambers  battled 
about  the  law  establishing  the  censure,  and  the  law 
temporarily  abrogating  personal  liberty.  There  were 
terrible  tumults  ;  extreme  orators  on  either  side  made 
violent  speeches,  which  were  in  reality  addressed  to 
the  country  at  large  ;  and  the  Ministry  tried  most 
unsuccessfully  to  avoid  bringing  forward  measures 
which  would  arouse  acrimonious  debate.  In  the 
voting  for  the  renewal  of  a  fifth  number  of  the  De- 

1  Memoires  du  Chancelier  Pasquier,  vol.  iv.  p.  464. 
3  Souvenirs  du  Baron  de  Barante,  vol.  ii.  p.  467. 


A  Wave  of  Revolution  349 

puties,  which  had  been  the  measure  at  last  decided  on, 
the  Royalists  were  largely  in  the  ascendant ;  and  even 
returned  some  of  the  members  of  the  Chambre  In- 
trouvable  of  1815.  A  moderate  Royalist  majority 
would  indeed  have  been  satisfactory  to  the  Ministry  ; 
but  this  triumph  was  alarming,  as  it  made  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  ultras  more  extravagant  than  ever. 
Louis  XVIII  expressed  the  matter  neatly  when  he 
said  to  his  Ministers,  "  So  we  are  in  the  situation 
of  the  unfortunate  rider  who  had  not  sufficient  elasticity 
to  mount  his  horse.  He  prayed  St.  George  with  so 
much  fervour  that  St.  George  gave  him  more  than 
was  necessary,  so  that  he  jumped  over  the  other 
side."  » 

A  wave  of  revolution  was  sweeping  over  Europe, 
combated  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  crowned  heads, 
led  by  Austria  under  the  leadership  of  Metternich, 
by  a  return  to  absolute  methods  of  government.  At 
Troppau  a  Congress  of  Great  Powers  met  on  Nov- 
ember 1st,  1820,  with  the  object  of  debating  on  the 
revolutions  which  were  disturbing  Naples  and  Spain  ; 
and  the  three  most  absolute  Powers,  Russia — so  had 
Alexander  I  fallen  away  from  his  early  views — Austria, 
and  Prussia,  summoned  the  King  of  Naples  to  meet 
them  at  Laybach  to  discuss  the  situation.  France  and 
England  at  first  held  aloof  from  these  proceedings  ; 
but  eventually  Louis  XVIII  wrote  to  the  King  of 
Naples  advising  him  to  be  present  at  the  Congress 
of  the  Powers.  Before  this  Congress  had  begun, 
European  affairs  were  further  complicated  by  the 
rising  of  Greece  against  Turkey. 

In  France,  the  reports  of  conspiracies  continued,  and 
petards  and  crackers — generally  discovered  to  be  harm- 
1  See  Crousaz-Cretet's  Life  of  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  p.  383. 


35°  Louis  XVIII 

less — were  found  in  different  places.  The  ultra- 
Royalists  were,  of  course,  terribly  excited  at  each  new 
discovery  ;  but  the  King  was  not  much  alarmed  at 
these  incidents,  and  even  suspected  ultra-Royalist  plots. 
When  in  consequence  of  one  of  these  excitements  the 
Duchesse  de  Berry  sent  to  ask  after  him,  he  returned 
a  joking  message  which  showed  his  suspicions  :  "  Tell 
my  niece  that  I  did  not  throw  the  bomb  myself," 
he  said. 

Matters,  however,  seemed  serious  when  petards 
were  discovered  in  the  Treasury,  and  when  the  Duchesse 
de  Berry  brought  Monsieur  a  paper  which  she  had,  she 
said,  found  on  her  toilette  table,  announcing  a  formidable 
plot  against  the  Royal  Family  ;  and  for  three  days  the 
most  searching  inquisition  took  place  to  discover  the 
instigators  of  the  conspiracy.  It  must  therefore  have 
been  a  most  painful  position  for  the  King,  when,  at 
an  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Council  convoked 
by  him,  he  was  obliged  to  announce  that,  fearing  dis- 
covery, the  Duchesse  de  Berry  had  told  her  confessor 
that  the  threatening  letter  had  been  written  at  her 
dictation  ;  though  she  announced  that  it  only  anti- 
cipated the  undoubted  intentions  of  the  assassins. 
The  Council  listened  with  downcast  eyes  to  this  dis- 
closure, and  the  King  spoke  in  a  low  voice,  and 
finished  with  the  words  :  "  Gentlemen,  I  will  ask  you 
to  spare  the  reputation  of  my  niece  as  far  as  possible, 
although  she  deserves  no  consideration."  1 

In  order  to  hush  up  the  matter  as  far  as  was  practi- 
cable, inquiries  were  continued  for  a  short  time  ;  and 
when  they  dropped,  Monsieur's  headquarters,  the 
Pavilion  Marsan,  were  loud  in  their  complaints  of 
the    culpable    negligence   of  the   police,   and   declared 

1  De  Boigne  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  32. 


Duchesse  de  Brery's  Plot  351 

that    the    Duchesse    de     Berry    was    surrounded    by 
assassins. 

They  were  even  more  disturbed  by  the  news  that, 
owing  to  his  wife's  illness,  Decazes  was  leaving  London, 
and  was  for  a  time  coming  to  Paris. 

There  was,  however,  no  real  fear  that  he  would 
regain  his  influence  over  the  King,  for  Madame  du 
Cayla  had  accomplished  her  task  cleverly  ;  and  even 
if  no  counter-influence  had  been  at  work,  Louis  XVIII 
was  always  loyal  to  his  Cabinet,  and,  as  he  had  shown 
in  the  case  of  Blacas,  would  allow  no  interference  in 
politics  except  that  of  an  authorised  Minister.  He 
wrote  now  to  Decazes  telling  him  that  the  ultra-liberals 
were  as  dangerous  to  him  as  the  ultra-Royalists,  and 
expressing  his  opinion  that  a  week  in  Paris  would  give 
Madame  Decazes  sufficient  rest,  before  she  continued 
her  journey  to  the  South.  When  Villele  and  Corbiere 
came  to  express  to  him  their  fears  about  Decazes' 
visit,  he  announced  that  once  a  man  was  out  of  the 
Government  he  would  not  be  allowed  with  impunity 
to  hazard  a  word  to  him  about  it,  and  that  if  Decazes 
were  to  attempt  this,  "  he  would  send  him  away  at 
once,  and  never  see  him  again  in  his  life."  l 

Louis  XVIII  kept  his  word  ;  and,  Decazes  being 
unexpectedly  detained  in  Paris  by  his  wife's  dangerous 
illness,  he  refused  to  see  him  after  his  first  visit, 
till  he  should  come  to  say  good-bye.  He  tried  to 
soften  the  blow  by  writing  his  friend  an  affectionate 
letter,  in  which  he  said  :  "  You  know  only  too  well 
how,  in  a  Government  like  ours,  it  is  impossible  to 
reckon  without  the  majority.  The  present  Ministry 
have  it  by  the  joining  of  the  Centre  and  the  Right  ; 
but  the  injustice  of  this  Right  towards  you  has   not 

1   Villele  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  438. 


352  Louis  XVIII 

diminished,  and  I  am  sadly  certain  that  if  your  stay 
here  were  to  be  prolonged,  the  majority  would  plunge 
us  into  chaos  !  "  l 

Credit  must  be  accorded  to  the  King  for  his  firm- 
ness on  this  occasion,  as,  in  spite  of  Madame  du 
Cayla's  ascendancy,  he  still  cast  wistful  glances  towards 
"  his  son  '  Decazes,  as  we  shall  see  later.  His  in- 
firmities were,  however,  becoming  aggravated,  so  that 
he  was  more  and  more  dependent  on  those  around 
him,  and  increasingly  anxious  for  peace  and  quiet. 

Pasquier,  the  Foreign  Minister,  speaking  of  the 
proposed  European  Congress  on  Eastern  Affairs,  says  : 
"  People  may  be  astonished  that  in  anything  having 
to  do  with  so  critical  a  matter  we  have  not  spoken 
of  the  personal  feelings  of  the  King  of  France,  nor 
of  the  part  taken  by  him  in  so  important  a  delibera- 
tion, and  one  in  which  his  long  experience  and  the 
general  intelligence  of  his  mind  would  naturally  give 
him  so  much  authority  ;  but  it  must  be  allowed  that 
the  King,  to  whose  infirmities  much  was  added  by 
the  weight  of  years,  had  begun  to  fall  into  the  state 
of  apathy  which  characterised  the  three  last  years  of 
his  life,  and  put  him  at  the  mercy  of  the  people 
who  perseveringly  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of 
dominating  him.  From  the  day  when  Monsieur 
Decazes  had  been  taken  from  him  by  proceedings 
which  had  wounded  his  heart,  his  self-esteem,  and 
his  regard  for  his  Royal  dignity,  he  had  only  occupied 
himself  with  business  so  that  it  should  not  be  said 
that  he  had  given  it  up.  He  often  remarked  that 
a  King  who  abdicated  always  ends  by  repenting  it ; 
that  he  should  be  spared  great  shocks,  and  the 
necessity  for  taking  any  great  resolution,  was  all 
1  See  Crousaz-CnStet's  Life  of  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  p.  426. 


Death  of  Napoleon  353 

the  King  asked    from  those    to  whom  authority    was 
entrusted. 

As  to  the  contradictions  which  it  was  not  always  pos- 
sible to  spare  him,  as  long  as  they  did  not  clash  with  a 
small  number  of  fixed  ideas  which  habit  had  rendered 
dear  to  him,  he  was  willing  not  to  appear  to  notice 
them."  l 

Louis  XVIII  was  destined,  at  any  rate,  to  outlive  his 
great  rival,  for  news  reached  the  King  about  this  time, 
that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had  died  at  Saint-Helena 
on  May  5th,  1  821.  This  intelligence,  which  would  have 
caused  a  revolution  ten  years  earlier,  now  made  little 
sensation  in  France ;  but  some  of  Napoleon's  old 
soldiers  felt  his  death  keenly.  Louis  XVIII  knew  how 
to  be  generous,  and  he  sent  for  Rapp,  the  General  on 
duty  at  Saint-Cloud,  who  had  retired  in  the  deepest 
grief  when  the  news  reached  him,  and  said,  "  Rapp,  I 
know  that  you  are  profoundly  afflicted  by  the  news  I 
have  received.  This  sorrow  does  honour  to  your  heart ; 
I  feel  only  the  more  affection  and  esteem  for  you." 
"Sire,"  answered  Rapp,  "I  owe  everything  to  Napoleon ; 
even  the  esteem  and  goodness  of  your  Majesty  and  of 
your  august  family."  2 

Meanwhile,  Monsieur  had  completely  forgotten  his 
promise  to  support  the  Ministry,  and  was  privy  to 
every  plot  designed  to  harry  and  hamper  it.  Matters 
were  now  approaching  a  crisis,  for  Villele  and  Corbiere 
were  extremely  discontented  with  their  position  in  the 
Cabinet,  and  Corbiere  excited  Richelieu's  indignation  by 
wishing  to  get  rid  of  officials  who  were  doing  their 
duty  satisfactorily,  in  order  to  substitute  ultras  for 
them.     "  Something  must  be  done  for  the   Royalists,"  3 

1  Pasquier  Memoir  es,  vol.  v.  p.  344. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  358.  3  Ibid.,  p.  240. 

23 


354  Louis  XVIII 

he  said.  The  two  ultras  had  in  fact  separated  them- 
selves entirely  from  the  Cabinet,  and  were  acting 
entirely  as  emissaries  from  the  Royalists.  In  the  end 
Villele  asked  to  be  made  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and 
when  Richelieu  expressed  his  surprise  at  this  request, 
said  in  a  low  voice  :  "  I  am  ashamed  to  confess  it  to 
you,  but  I  must  have  places  to  give."  !  The  venality 
of  the  ultras  was  indeed  unblushing,  and  eventually,  to 
Richelieu's  relief,  Villele  and  Corbiere  left  the  Cabinet. 

The  ultra-Royalists  now  concentrated  their  forces 
on  making  a  grand  attack  on  the  Cabinet,  and  after  the 
Ministers  had  had  several  interviews  with  Monsieur, 
during  which  he  showed  extreme  disgust  and  impatience 
because  they  would  not  at  once  do  something  to  help 
the  "poor  Emigres,"  the  Right  joined  with  the  extreme 
Left  to  wreck  the  Cabinet. 

In  order  to  accomplish  this,  they  managed  to  be 
elected  members  of  the  Commission  appointed  to  pre- 
pare the  Address  to  the  King  at  the  opening  of  the 
Chambers,  and  inserted  in  it  two  passages  strongly 
condemnatory  of  the  Ministerial  policy.  In  one  of 
these  they  politely  hoped  that  the  "  precious  peace 
enjoyed  by  the  country  had  not  been  obtained  by 
sacrifices  incompatible  with  the  honour  of  the  nation 
and  the  dignity  of  your  Crown  "  ;  and,  in  the  other, 
they  made  a  covert  attack  on  the  patriotic  and  high- 
minded  Richelieu,  and  embodying  Talleyrand's  sneering 
insinuation  that  he  took  his  orders  from  Russia,  said, 
referring  to  the  grain  imported  from  Odessa,  that  they 
regretted  the  agricultural  distress,  and  the  insufficiency 
and  tardiness  of  the  precautions  against  the  introduction 
of  corn  from  abroad. 

The  King  was  indignant  at  these  reflections  on  his 

1  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Restanration,  vol.  x.  p.  237. 


Attack  on  the  Ministry  355 

Ministry,  considering  them  an  attack  on  the  Royal 
prerogative  ;  and  at  first  he  declared  that  he  would  not 
receive  the  Address.  Later,  it  was  decided  that  he 
should  receive  it  but  not  read  it  to  the  President,  as 
was  customary,  and  should  return  a  severe  answer. 

On  September  29th,  1821,  the  Council  assembled  in 
his  presence  to  discuss  the  terms  of  the  answer,  and 
Louis  XVIII,  who  at  first  seemed  to  be  dozing, 
suddenly  woke  up,  and  insisted  on  adopting  the  most 
decided  line  of  disapproval  proposed.  When  the 
President  and  the  two  Secretaries  came  to  receive 
the  answer  to  the  Address,  the  King's  manner  was 
severe,  his  voice  firm,  and  his  tone  dignified.  He 
stated  that  the  agricultural  distress  could  not  be  pre- 
vented, as  all  Europe  was  suffering  from  it,  and 
went  on  to  say  :  "  In  exile  and  persecution  I  have 
supported  my  rights,  the  honour  of  my  name,  and  that 
of  my  country.  On  the  throne,  surrounded  by  my 
people,  I  feel  indignant  even  at  the  thought  that  I 
could  ever  sacrifice  the  honour  of  the  nation  and  the 
dignity  of  my  crown.  I  hope  that  most  of  those  who 
have  voted  for  this  Address  have  not  weighed  all  the 
expressions  in  it.  If  they  had  had  time  to  realise 
them,  they  would  not  have  allowed  a  supposition 
which  as  King,  I  will  not  characterise,  and  which  as 
father,   I  should  wish  to  forget." 

So  spoke  Louis  XVIII,  with  a  last  flicker  of  the  old 
spirit,  so  soon  to  be  extinguished  by  weakness  and  by 
unworthy  intrigue  ;  and  the  ultra-Royalists  were  con- 
sternated at  the  failure  of  their  attempt  to  discredit 
the  Government.  Villele,  who  had  all  along  disap- 
proved strongly  of  the  Address,  characterised  it  as 
"  monstrous,"  and  the  Ministry  took  courage.  How- 
ever, the  breathing-space  was  short,  for  the  Opposition 


356  Louis  XVIII 

not  only  defeated  the  Government  over  a  law  on  the 
censure  of  the  press,  but  started  fierce  personal  attacks 
against  the  President  of  the  Council.  Richelieu,  who 
had  hated  re-entering  political  life,  was  now  most  anxious 
to  remain  at  the  head  of  affairs  till  the  country  should 
be  pacified ;  and  he  appealed  to  Monsieur,  who  had 
induced  him  to  became  President  of  the  Council  by 
promising  to  be  his  first  lieutenant,  and  who  had  since 
then  instigated  every  movement  against  him,  related 
to  him  the  unworthy  manoeuvres  against  the  Govern- 
ment put  in  motion  by  the  ultra-Royalists,  and  implored 
him  to  put  a  stop  to  them.  At  first  Monsieur  evaded 
the  question  in  his  usual  lighthearted  manner,  by 
saying  that  he  had  no  power,  and  had  nothing  to  do 
with  public  affairs. 

When,  however,  Richelieu  pressed  him  sternly, 
reminding  him  that  he  had  formerly  given  his  word 
to  support  the  Ministry  if  Richelieu  would  head  it, 
and  when  he  finished  with  the  words,  "  Monseigneur, 
it  is  the  word  of  a  Prince  given  to  a  gentleman  which 
I  claim  !  "  Monsieur  was  at  last  cornered.  "  Ah,  my 
dear  Duke,  you  take  things  too  literally,"  he  said  ; 
"  and  then  the  circumstances  were  so  difficult  !  " * 
Richelieu  did  not  answer  in  words,  but  he  looked  the 
Prince  straight  in  the  face  ;  and  then,  turning  his  back 
on  him,  he  left  the  room,  shutting  the  door  behind 
him  with  a  violence  which  surprised  the  gentlemen-in- 
waiting  outside. 

Richelieu  went  straight  to  his  friend  Pasquier,  who 
tells  the  story,  and  who  says  that,  horrified  at  his  pallor 
and  agitation,  he  asked  what  had  happened  :  "  *  I  am 
overwhelmed,'  said  the  Duke,  *  by  what  I  have  heard, 
and  I  am  choking  with  indignation  and  can  hardly  look 
1  Memoir es  du  Chancelier  Pasquier,  vol.  v.  p.  409. 


Richelieu  and  Monsieur  357 

at  you,  so  ashamed  am  I  of  the  man  whose  words  1  am 
going  to  repeat  to  you.'  Then  he  told  me  what  I 
have  just  written." 

Monsieur  had  won  ;  for  the  only  possible  course 
open  to  Richelieu  was  to  offer  the  King  his  resigna- 
tion and  that  of  the  Cabinet. 

When  the  King  first  heard  of  the  possible  fall  of  the 
Ministry  he  was  terribly  agitated  :   "  Good  heavens  !  ' 
he  said,  putting  his  head  between  his  hands,  "  What 
will   become   of   me  ?     What    do   they   wish  ?     What 
conditions  will  they  impose  on  me  ?  "  1 

However,  by  the  time  Richelieu  went  to  him, 
Madame  du  Cayla  had  been  at  work, and  Louis  XVIII 
received  the  resignation  of  the  Cabinet  with  a  prompti- 
tude which  deeply  wounded  the  Duke.  "  You  cannot 
take  any  other  course,"  the  King  said,  "  without  lower- 
ing yourself;  the  abandonment  of  even  one  of  your 
colleagues  would  be  a  weakness  unworthy  of  you."  2 

Meanwhile,  Madame  du  Cayla  and  Sosthene  de  la 
Rochefoucauld  were  still  fully  occupied,  for  the  down- 
fall of  the  Richelieu  Cabinet  was  not  of  much  avail, 
unless  an  ultra-Royalist  Government  could  be  estab- 
lished in  its  place.  Villele,  with  whom  the  two  had 
had  many  dealings,  must  undertake  the  leadership  of 
the  Ministry  ;  and,  in  his  anxiety  to  have  the  matter 
settled,  La  Rochefoucauld  paid  him  four  visits  in  a 
day  ;  while  Madame  du  Cayla  urged  continually  on 
the  King  the  necessity  of  associating  Monsieur  with 
the  Government.  Even  in  his  weak  and  failing  state, 
the  King  made  a  faint  struggle  against  this,  for  it  went 
terribly  against  the  grain  to  abdicate  to  his  brother. 
The  second   letter    Madame   du   Cayla  received   from 

1  Trans,  de  Boignc  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  55. 
*  Pasquier  Memoires,  vol.  v.  p.  410. 


3S*  Louis  XVIII 

him  on  the  fateful  morning  of  Richelieu's  resignation, 
showed  that  the  situation  was  dangerous,  for  he 
was  still  reluctant  to  have  recourse  to  Monsieur  and 
the  ultra-Royalists;  and,  according  to  La  Rochefou- 
cauld's triumphant  retrospective  summary  to  Madame 
du  Cayla,  it  was  only  at  the  fifth  letter  which  passed 
during  the  morning,  that  "  the  King,  carried  away  by 
your  eloquence,  gave  in  to  your  reasoning,  and  promised 
you  to  send  for  Monsieur  and  to  receive  from  him 
the  Ministry  that  you,  Madame,  had  just  obtained  for 
France."  * 

Louis  XVIII,  however,  though  hopelessly  enthralled 
and  vanquished,  was  not  yet  blind  ;  and  hearing  from 
Richelieu  of  certain  intrigues  in  which  Monsieur  was 
engaged,  he  said  with  a  sigh  :  "  What  can  you  expect  ? 
He  conspired  against  Louis  XVI,  he  conspired  against 
me,  he  will  conspire  against  himself!  "  2 

Possibly  the  King  realised  what  was  likely  to  be  the 
end  of  Monsieur's  gambols  ;  for  one  day  he  amused 
himself  with  writing  an  account  of  the  character  of  the 
Due  d'Orleans,  and  in  it  are  found  the  remarkable 
words :  "  He  does  not  move,  and  yet  I  see  that  he 
travels  !  " 3 

Richelieu  was  asked  to  draw  up  a  list  of  the  men  he 
thought  suitable  for  the  Cabinet  and  to  submit  it  to 
Monsieur,  but  the  latter  strongly  objected  to  two  or 
three  of  the  proposed  Ministry,  notably  to  Blacas, 
whom  he  had  always  detested.  The  names  were 
altered  as  he  chose,  and  Villele  and  Corbiere  were  put 
in  charge  of  the  Ministry. 

When     once     the     matter    was     settled,     however, 

1  La  Rochefoucauld  Memoir es,  vol.  vii.  p.  41. 

2  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  vol.  x.  p.  391. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  xii.  p.  469. 


From  an  engraving  by  F.  Gamier,  after  a  picture  by  F.  Gerard. 

COMTE  D'ARTOIS. 

(Afterwards  Charles  X.) 
p.  358] 


His  Virtual  Abdication  359 

Louis  XVIII  was  anxious  to  be  quit  of  his  old 
Ministry  and  to  be  left  in  peace,  and  he  sent  three 
times  during  the  evening  to  demand  the  formal  resig- 
nation of  the  Cabinet,  the  news  of  which  he  had 
promised  to  Madame  du  Cayla  before  bedtime. 

We  hear  no  more  of  Richelieu  in  political  life,  for, 
worn  out  by  the  agitations  and  labours  he  had  under- 
gone, he  died  only  five  months  later,  on  May  17th, 
1822,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 

Till  Madame  du  Cayla  had  thoroughly  accomplished 
her  work  of  poisoning  the  King's  mind  against  the 
fallen  Ministry,  Louis  XVIII  invariably  received 
Richelieu  with  much  cordiality,  but  the  rest  of  the 
Royal  Family  always  treated  him  with  coldness,  some- 
times with  studied  rudeness  ;  and  though  the  Duke 
affected  to  smile  at  their  behaviour,  it  was  a  smile  of 
sadness,  for  he  was  deeply  hurt  at  the  ingratitude 
shown  him,  and  righteously  indignant  at  being  ousted 
by  intrigue. 

Thus,  in  December  of  the  year  1 82 1,  did  Louis  XVIII 
virtually  abdicate  to  his  brother  ;  and  Charles  X  in- 
augurated the  policy  compounded  of  weakness  and 
harshness,  which  was  to  exile  the  Bourbons  permanently 
from  France. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Villele  Ministry — Infringements  of  the  Charter — Spanish  expedition 
— Chateaubriand — La  Rochefoucauld — Madame  du  Cayla — Louis 
XVIII  presents  her  with  Chateau  at  Saint-Ouen — Entertainment 
there — King's  precarious  condition — His  determined  courage — 
Madame  du  Cayla  persuades  him  to  see  a  priest — Decazes'  grief — 
Death  of  Louis  XVIII. 

CHATEAUBRIAND  tells  us  somewhere— though 
he  evidently  wishes  us  to  contradict  him  mentally 
as  far  as  one  man  is  concerned — that  in  passing  from 
Napoleon's  heroic  era  to  the  times  of  the  Restoration, 
when  he  and  his  compeers  came  to  the  front,  we  seem 
to  be  transported  from  an  age  of  giants  to  that  of 
pigmies.  This  is  not,  I  think,  the  impression  of  the 
ordinary  reader,  to  whom  there  is  a  sense  of  relief 
in  leaving  despotism — though  dominated  by  the  extra- 
ordinary figure  of  Napoleon — for  constitutional  govern- 
ment, even  if  it  be  occasionally  weak  and  erring  ;  while 
a  tremendous  clearing  of  the  moral  atmosphere  takes 
place  when,  in  exchange  for  Talleyrand,  the  man  with- 
out feeling,  and  Fouche,  the  man  without  a  conscience, 
we  are  confronted  with  Richelieu,  whose  most  bitter 
enemies  were  forced  to  admire  his  patriotism  and 
highmindedness,  and  with  Decazes,  who,  though  am- 
bitious, was  large-minded  enough,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  work  for  the  benefit  of  his  friend,  even  when  the 
latter  had  considered  it  necessary  to  try  to  oust  him 

from  political  life. 

360 


Villi's  Ministry  36* 

These  men  were  working  for  their  country.  But 
with  Richelieu's  fall,  and  the  accession  to  power  of 
Villele,  Corbiere,  and  Chateaubriand  ;  with  the  substitu- 
tion, too,  of  Monsieur,  with  his  ineradicable  notion 
that  to  rule  was  to  assume  leadership  of  a  party,  and 
to  assure  at  all  costs  that  party's  predominance,  for 
the  calm,  sagacious  Louis  XVIII,  eminently  fitted,  not 
only  by  his  clearsightedness  and  freedom  from  pre- 
judice, but  by  a  certain  lack  of  initiative,  to  be  guided 
by  his  Ministers,  and  thus  to  take  the  position  of 
constitutional  monarch,  the  atmosphere  changes,  and 
intrigue  takes  the  place  of  politics. 

Villele  was  indeed  an  able  man,  and,  as  his  political 
opponent  Guizot  allows,  a  though  he  arrived  at  the 
Government  as  a  party  man,  and  remained  a  party  man 
in  the  Government,  he  tried  to  make  the  spirit  of 
government  prevail  over  the  spirit  of  party  among  his 
followers." *  However,  the  ultra-Royalists  were  too 
strong  for  him ;  besides,  his  hands  were  not  clean, 
for  he  was  to  a  certain  extent  in  league  with  Madame 
du  Cayla  and  La  Rochefoucauld,  who  considered  that 
he  was  beholden  to  them  for  his  position  as  head  of  the 
Ministry.  There  is  something  repellent,  too,  about 
Villele's  habit  of  belittling  his  colleagues  ;  and  his 
subserviency  to  his  party  gives  the  impression  that 
he  would  stoop  to  anything  for  the  sake  of  remaining 
in  power. 

However,  as  this  is  a  biography  of  Louis  XVIII  and 
not  the  history  of  the  Restoration,  it  will  only  be 
necessary  to  glance  very  briefly  at  political  events 
before  returning  to  the  room  where  the  King,  now 
in  a  dying  condition,  still  struggled  heroically  to  per- 
form his  official  duties,  and  showed  from  time  to  time 

1  Guizot  Memoires,  vol.  i.  p.  233. 


362  Louis  XVIII 

that  though  his  will  was  subjugated  by  his  brother, 
and  he  was  enthralled  and  partially  blinded  by  the 
intrigues  surrounding  him,  his  brain  was  still  clear, 
and  that  he  would,  if  left  to  himself,  have  been  capable, 
when  his  health  permitted,  of  judging  affairs  with  his 
usual  sagacity  and  moderation. 

The  Villele  Ministry  inaugurated  its  reign  by  several 
infringements  of  the  Charter.  At  La  Rochefoucauld's 
suggestion,  a  law  was  passed  by  which  no  newspaper 
could  be  started  without  authorisation  from  the 
Government,  a  measure  which  made  the  Press  a  tool 
of  the  State.  The  censorship  was  abolished,  but  any 
misdemeanours  committed  by  the  Press  were  to  be 
judged,  not  by  a  jury,  but  by  the  Royal  Courts.  The 
education  of  youth  was  put  altogether  into  the  hands 
of  the  clergy,  and  Monsieur  Frayssinous,  Bishop  of 
Hermopolis,  was  made  Grand  Master  of  the  University. 

Many  were  the  risings  throughout  the  country,  and 
summary  were  the  proceedings  taken  against  them. 
In  one  fortnight  nine  men  were  executed  for  political 
offences,  and  three  others  only  a  month  later,  while 
numberless  lawsuits  were  brought  against  newspapers 
with   liberal  tendencies. 

In  Spain,  Louis  XVIII's  kinsman,  Ferdinand  VII, 
seemed  completely  in  the  power  of  the  Revolutionaries  ; 
and  the  Congress  of  Verona,  which  opened  near  the  end 
of  the  year  1822,  and  at  which  Montmorency  and 
Chateaubriand,  as  well  as  La  Ferronays  and  Caraman, 
were  the  French  plenipotentiaries,  met  to  discuss  the 
question  of  European  interference  in  Spanish,  as  well 
as  in  Grecian  affairs. 

Louis  XVIII  had  wished  Villele  to  represent 
France  at  the  Congress.  He  disliked  Chateaubriand, 
and    he   clung   to  Villele  as    the    most   moderate   and 


Spanish  Affairs  3&3 

calm-minded  of  the  men  around  him.  "  Villele," 
he  implored,  when  he  feared  that  his  Minister 
would  resign,  "  do  not  leave  me  to  these  brigands  ; 
stay  with  me  ;   1  will  support  you."1 

His  health  continued  to  decline,  but  sometimes  he 
showed  a  flicker  of  energy,  and  then  it  was  seen  that 
his  intelligence  was  still  intact. 

Many  were  the  controversies  on  Spanish  affairs  ; 
and  at  a  Council  which  had  met  to  discuss  whether 
or  no  the  French  Legation  should  remove  from  Madrid, 
in  the  case  of  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish 
Revolutionaries  to  fulfil  the  demands  the  Great  Powers 
had  formulated  at  Verona,  the  King,  after  summing  up 
the  matter  with  a  "  clearness,  sobriety  of  expression, 
and  elegance  which  were  remarkable  under  the  circum- 
stances," 2  took  the  part  of  Villele  against  Montmorency, 
and  said  that,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  Spain,  it 
would  not  be  safe  to  withdraw  the  French  Ambassador 
from  Madrid,  till  a  large  French  army  was  crossing  the 
frontier  to  succour  his  nephew  Ferdinand  VII. 

Chateaubriand  was  now  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
a  post  he  had  undertaken  with  pretended  reluctance  ; 
and  when  it  was  decided  that  war  should  be  declared 
against  Spain,  this  was  done  mainly,  he  considered, 
at  his  instigation  ;  it  was  "  his  war,"  he  announced, 
and  he  thought  that  the  French  Bourbons  owed  him  a 
deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  bringing  about  a  military 
enterprise  which  assured  their  popularity,  and,  in  his 
opinion,  consolidated  their  position  on  the  throne. 

On  March  14th,  1823,  the  Due  d'Angouleme  started 
to  take  command  of  the  expedition,  and  returned 
triumphantly  to  Paris  on  December  2nd,  at  the  head 

1  Viel  Castel,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  vol.  xii.  p.  16. 

2  See  Viel  Castel,  loc.  tit.,  vol.  xiii.  p.  368. 


364  Louis  XVIII 

of  a  great  part  of  his  army.  At  Versailles  he  was  met 
by  Monsieur  and  Madame,  the  Duchesse  de  Berry  was 
waiting  to  receive  him  at  Saint-Cloud,  and  when  he 
arrived  at  the  entrance  to  the  Tuileries,  he  dismounted 
to  receive  an  embrace  from  Louis  XVI II,  accompanied 
by  the  words  :  "  My  son,  I  am  pleased  with  you." 
Then  the  King  was  carried  to  the  balcony,  and  30,060 
of  the  troops  who  had  returned  from  Madrid  passed  in 
procession  before  him  and  the  Royal  Family  ;  while 
in  the  evening  Paris  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  and 
there  were  general  rejoicings. 

Great  was  the  universal  enthusiasm,  brilliant  the 
triumph  of  the  ultra-Royalists  who  had  brought  about 
this  happy  state  of  affairs,  and  no  one  heeded  the  fact 
that  the  whole  of  Spain  had  been  given  over  to  the 
reprisals  of  a  merciless  despot. 

Chateaubriand's  triumph,  however,  was  of  short 
duration.  His  relations  with  Villele  had  never  been 
very  amicable,  and  to  the  latter's  indignation,  after 
appearing  to  agree  with  him  about  a  project  brought 
forward  by  the  Ministry  for  indemnifying  the  Emigres 
by  conversion  of  the  Government  stock,  Chateaubriand 
had  refused  to  support  the  measure  in  the  Chamber. 
The  King,  instigated  by  Madame  du  Cayla,  took 
Villele's  part  with  keenness,  and  in  his  increasing  weak- 
ness showed  an  irritability  which  was  usually  foreign  to 
his  nature.  He  had  always  disliked  Chateaubriand  ; 
and  now  his  feelings  were  continually  worked  on  by 
Madame  du  Cayla,  who  coveted  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs  for  La  Rochefoucauld's  father,  the  Due  de 
Doudeauville.  Villele  was  sent  for  by  the  King  one 
morning,  and  found  him  much  agitated.  "  Villele," 
he  said,  "  Chateaubriand  has  deceived  us  like  a 
scoundrel.     I   will  not  see  him  at  my  reception  after 


Chateaubriand's  Disgrace  36$ 

Mass.  Write  out  the  order  for  his  dismissal.  Let 
them  hunt  for  him  everywhere,  and  give  it  to  him 
in  time.     I  refuse  to  see  him."  l 

Chateaubriand  was  a  dangerous  enemy,  and  Villele 
would  in  the  future  suffer  from  the  imprudence  of 
rousing  his  bitter  hostility.  Intrigues  for  place  had, 
however,  taken  the  place  of  patriotism,  and  there  was 
now  no  guiding  hand  at  the  helm,  for  Louis  XVIII 
only  craved  to  be  left  in  peace. 

Sometimes,  however,  in  spite  of  his  desire  for  quiet, 
he  found  himself  involved  in  storms,  for  Villele  showed 
distinct  reluctance  to  fulfil  La  Rochefoucauld's  behests, 
and  to  give  him  a  place  in  the  Ministry,  where  he 
would  provide  the  country  with  "  an  arm  of  iron  which 
no  obstacle  would  stop,  no  difficulty  would  baffle, 
which  would  know  how  to  arrange  everything  [here 
I  must  disclaim  responsibility  for  mixed  metaphors], 
to  unite  everything,  to  rally  everything,  and  to  make 
everything  successful."  2 

Then  La  Rochefoucauld  became  angry,  and  re- 
minded Villele  of  the  oaths  he  declared  that  the  latter 
had  sworn  when  he  begged  for  his  assistance.  He  also 
urged  Madame  du  Cayla  to  the  combat  ;  and  not  only 
interviewed  her  on  the  subject,  but  wrote  to  her  con- 
tinually. "  It  is  painful  to  me,"  he  says,  "to  be  in 
a  position  where  I  cannot  prove  my  capacities  ;  and 
if  only  I  were  to  become  Minister  of  the  Interior,  I 
would  organise  everything  dealing  with  my  department 
so  that  I  should  deserve  no  reproaches."  Madame  du 
Cayla  found  the  position  of  affairs  most  difficult,  for 
La  Rochefoucauld  possessed  extreme  pertinacity,  and 
incited  her  to  do  her  best  by  saying  that  he  "  depended 

1  See  Viel  Castel,  Hisioire  de  la  Restauration,  vol.  xiii.  p.  372. 

2  La  Rochefoucauld  Me'moires,  vol.  viii.  p.  277. 


366  Louis  XVIII 

completely  on  her,  and  that  it  was  only  that  thought 
which  gave  him  strength  and  kept  up  his  courage."  1 

Madame  du  Cayala  being  beset  herself,  beset  the 
unfortunate  King  ;  and,  between  her  assaults  and  the 
decided  resistance  of  Villele,  Lous  XVIII  was  on  one  oc- 
casion so  much  agitated  that  his  health  suffered  severely, 
and  for  several  days  he  was  in  a  state  of  depression 
and  exhaustion  which  alarmed  those  who  surrounded 
him.  He  did  indeed  end  by  signing  a  paper  nominat- 
ing La  Rochefoucauld  to  the  Ministry  ;  but,  in  a  last 
attempt  to  defend  himself,  he  insisted  that  the  docu- 
ment should  be  taken  to  his  brother,  and  Monsieur, 
who  was  now  all-powerful,  for  once  showed  wisdom ; 
and  testified  his  disapproval  so  strongly,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  proceed  with  the  matter. 

However,  Villele  himself  felt  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances, it  was  necessary  to  do  something  for  La 
Rochefoucauld  ;  and  eventually  that  gentleman's  father, 
the  Due  de  Doudeauville,  was  made  Minister  of  the 
Maison  du  Roi  ;  and  a  separate  department  in  this 
Ministry — that  of  the  Beaux-Arts — was  created  for  the 
son,  who,  as  a  special  favour,  was  allowed  to  work 
directly  with  the  King. 

La  Rochefoucauld's  letter  to  Madame  du  Cayla,  after 
his  first  visit  to  the  Tuileries  in  his  new  capacity,  is 
worthy  of  citation.  "  In  the  Castle,"  he  says,  "  I 
passed  like  any  one  else  (except,  perhaps,  that  they 
were  more  polite  to  me  than  to  other  people,  and 
that,  seeing  me,  a  violent  kick  woke  all  the  guards, 
and  I  received  a  magnificent  bow  from  the  superior 
officers).  I  then  enter  the  Hall  of  Diana.  They  rise. 
Further  on  a  footman  runs  up  :  c  Will  Monseigneur 
allow  me  to  carry  his  portfolio  ?     Your  Excellency  is 

1  La  Rochefoticauld  Memoires,  vol.  viii.  p.  277. 


The  Chateau  of  Saint-Ouen  367 

a  few  minutes  early.'  Then  the  ordinary  gentlemen 
flock  round  ;  they  enter  the  King's  room  ;  a  most 
respectful  salute  invites  me  to  follow  ;  in  the  expres- 
sion of  several  devoted  servants  I  read  that  the  King 
is  pleased.     I  am  happy  to  see  this  excellent  Prince."  1 

The  dealings  of  fate  are  inscrutable  ;  Richelieu  and 
Decazes  had  retired  from  political  life,  disappointed 
and  broken-hearted,  while  the  gift  of  perfect  happiness 
was  vouchsafed  to  Sosthene  de  la  Rochefoucauld. 

Madame  du  Cayla  was  not  left  empty-handed. 
According  to  La  Rochefoucauld,  she  had  refused  very 
valuable  gifts  which  had  been  offered  to  her  by 
Louis  XVIII,  such  as  a  portfolio  adorned  with  splendid 
diamonds,  and  a  most  magnificent  ornament  composed 
of  the  same  precious  stones.  In  view  of  the  situation, 
and  of  the  characters  of  those  engaged  in  the  drama, 
it  may  not  be  uncharitable  to  point  out  that  these 
valuables  were  proffered  to  the  lady  during  the  early 
days  of  her  friendship  with  Louis  XVIII,  when  a 
position  not  very  firmly  established,  necessitated  strict 
adherence  to  the  r61e  of  disinterested  affection  for  the 
King.  "  Sire,"  she  said,  when  thanking  him  for  his 
munificent  offers,  "  I  am  the  only  person  in  your 
kingdom  who  can  accept  nothing  from  your  Majesty."  2 

The  sentiment  was  gracefully  expressed,  besides 
being  high-minded  ;  and  Louis  XVIII  was  reduced  to 
the  declaration  that  nothing  should  prevent  him  from 
providing  most  generously  for  his  friend  after  his 
death.  The  lady's  resolution,  however,  to  receive 
nothing  during  the  King's  lifetime,  gave  way  at  the 
offer  of  a  magnificent  residence  at  Saint-Ouen,  to  be 
built  on  the  site  of  the  small  house  in  which  the  King 

1  La  Rochefoucauld  Memoires,  vol.  viii.  p.  399. 
*  Ibid.,  vol.  vii.  p.  66. 


368  Louis  XVIII 

had  in  1814  signed  the  so-called  Declaration  of  Saint- 
Ouen.  As  La  Rochefoucauld  puts  it  :  "  It  was  neces- 
sary to  find  something  besides  politics  in  which  to 
occupy  him  [the  King],  and  it  seemed  to  me,  I  allow, 
impossible  to  persist  in  your  refusal  of  Saint-Ouen. 
I  therefore  advised  you  to  accept  a  gift  which  became 
afterwards  more  of  a  burden  than  a  benefit  ;  besides, 
the  King  looked  on  the  matter  as  something  personal, 
and  attached  enormous  importance  to  it.  Giving  it  to 
you,  he  said,  '  My  child,  think  that  Saint-Denis  *  is  not 
far  from  Saint-Ouen  ;  you  will  pray  there  for  me.' 

Madame  du  Cayla  inaugurated  her  reign  at  Saint- 
Ouen  with  an  entertainment,  at  which,  after  a  play  had 
been  performed,  she  emerged  from  a  recess  crowned 
with  a  civic  crown,  and  was  proclaimed  the  heroine 
of  the  Charter.  She  had  hoped  that  Monsieur  would 
appear  at  her  party  ;  but  he  had  hesitated,  and  at  the 
last  Madame  persuaded  him  not  to  come.  However, 
the  whole  diplomatic  body  were  there,  and  bishops, 
as  well  as  other  distinguished  ecclesiastics,  graced  the 
affair  with  their  presence. 

Half  an  hour  before  the  entertainment,  the  King 
had  paid  Madame  du  Cayla  a  visit,  and  Madame  de 
Boigne,  who  had  gone  to  the  party,  which  only  a  few 
very  particular  people  refused  to  attend,  tells  us  that 
the  freshly  made  marks  of  his  heavy  coach-wheels 
could  be  seen  in  the  well-gravelled  drives,  and  that  he 
had  evidently  driven  round  to  inspect  all  the  arrange- 
ments. She  says  :  "  The  magnificence  of  the  house 
had  not  been  exaggerated.  It  was  most  convenient, 
and  was  constructed  at  the  greatest  expense.  Every 
detail  showed  minute  care.  The  gutter-spouts  were 
of  polished  marble,  and  the  banisters  of  the  attic  stair- 

1  The  burial  place  of  the  French  Royal  Family. 


Entertainment  at  Saint-Ouen  369 

case  of  mahogany.  Nothing  had  been  overlooked,  and 
it  was  obvious  that  artists  and  workmen  had  been 
employed  regardless  of  expense.  The  cleverest  painters 
had  been  commissioned  to  decorate  the  walls.  But  all 
this  luxury  was  in  good  taste  and  harmonious,  and 
produced  the  effect  of  noble  simplicity.  In  the  library 
was  an  immense  portrait  of  Louis  XVIII,  seated  at  a 
table  and  signing  the  Declaration  of  Saint-Ouen.  Still 
more  curious  was  the  sight  of  the  papal  nuncio,  Mon- 
seigneur  Macchi,  and  Monsieur  Lieutard,  seated  at  the 
table  and  relieving  one  another  in  the  task  of  praising 
the  Christian  virtues  of  their  charming  hostess.  It 
should  be  said  that  this  Monsieur  Lieutard  was  the 
strict  tutor  of  the  religious  youth  of  the  period,  and 
that  none  of  his  disciples  would  have  ventured  into  a 
theatre,  with  the  exception  of  that  which  Madame  du 
Cayla  was  about  to  open  to  us."  * 

The  King  had  not,  however,  forgotten  Decazes, 
whom  every  one  round  him  conspired  to  blacken  ;  and 
occasionally  he  still  yearned  for  "his  son."  Looking 
one  day  at  La  Rochefoucauld  with  a  piercing  gaze, 
though  he  strove  to  make  his  voice  indifferent,  he  said  : 
"  Vicomte  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  you  know  Monsieur 
Decazes.  I  have  loved  him  like  a  most  tender  son  ; 
I  have  still  the  most  profound  affection  for  him  ;  I 
wish   to   know   your   opinion   of  him." 

The  poor  old  King  continued  to  fix  penetrating 
eyes  on  La  Rochefoucauld,  and  listened  in  silence 
while  that  gentleman  turned  this  opportunity  to  the 
best  advantage  for  cleverly  belittling  and  traducing 
the  common  enemy.  At  the  end  Louis  XVIII  is 
reported  to  have  said  :  "  You  judge  him  perfectly  ; 
he  is  deluded.     I  pity  him.     I  am  unhappy  about  it, 

1  Trans,  de  Boigne  Me'moires,  vol.  iii.  p.  95. 

24 


37 'o  Louis  XVIII 

and  I  do  not  love  him  the  less."  The  King  then 
insisted  on  Decazes'  good  qualities,  and  La  Roche- 
foucauld did  not  trouble  to  dispute  them  much,  as 
he  felt  he  had  said  enough  for  his  purpose."  1 

The  King  was  now  almost  blind,  and  signed  without 
well  realising  its  purport  everything  that  was  presented 
to  him.  Till  a  few  days  before  his  death  he  still  took 
his  daily  drive,  and  the  pity  of  the  spectators  was 
excited  by  seeing  the  bowed,  shrunken  figure  hurried 
through  the  streets  behind  four  galloping  horses.  So 
inanimate  was  he,  that  some  people  declared  it  was 
not  the  King,  but  a  figure  dressed  to  resemble  him, 
which  was  paraded  through  the  streets  ;  others  ex- 
claimed indignantly  at  the  cruelty  of  the  Ministers 
in  condemning  a  dying  man  to  this  suffering,  in  order 
to  deceive  every  one  as  to  the  real  state  of  his  health. 

These  reports  were  of  course  untrue.  "  It  is  allow- 
able for  a  King  to  die,  but  never  to  be  ill,"  the  King 
had  said  ;  and  "  the  amount  of  determination,  courage, 
and  firm  resolution  he  applied  to  the  keeping  of  this 
maxim  no  one  could  believe  without  having  witnessed 
it  himself,"  2  remarks  Villele,  who,  as  First  Minister, 
had  constant  access  to  him. 

He  was  perfectly  aware  of  his  desperate  condition, 
and  when  the  Council,  fearing  possible  disturbances 
at  the  beginning  of  the  new  reign,  proposed  to  put 
all  the  newspapers  under  censorship,  he  agreed  promptly, 
and  said  to  Villele,  "  When  you  leave  me,  go  at 
once  to  tell  my  brother  what  I  have  done."  3  Never- 
theless, on  the  festival  of  Saint-Louis,  in  spite  of  the 
fatigue  and  suffering  it  must  have  cost  him,  he  insisted 

1  La  Rochefoucauld  Memoires,  vol.  vii.  p.  95. 

2  Villele  Memoires,  vol.  v.  p.  1 10. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  hi. 


His  Failing  Health  371 

on  receiving  the  congratulations  of  all  the  principal 
bodies  of  the  State,  replied  to  the  harangue  addressed 
to  him  by  the  Prefect  with  as  much  neatness  and 
ease  of  elocution  as  though  he  had  been  in  perfect 
health,  and  insisted  on  presiding  afterwards  at  the 
Council. 

Madame  de  Boigne  was  one  of  the  King's  fete-day 
visitors,  and  she  says :  "  I  had  not  seen  him  since  the 
month  of  May,  and  I  was  much  shocked  by  the  great 
change  in  his  appearance.  He  was  seated  in  the  same 
armchair,  and  was  in  his  usual  costume — a  uniform 
brilliant  with  gold  lace  and  studded  with  orders.  The 
gaiters  of  black  velvet  round  his  legs  were  twice  as 
large  as  before,  and  his  once  noble  head  was  so 
diminished  in  size  that  it  looked  quite  small.  It 
dropped  upon  his  chest  so  low  that  his  shoulders  rose 
above  it  ;  only  with  an  effort  could  he  raise  his  face, 
and  then  he  showed  features  so  changed  and  lifeless 
that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  his  condition.  He 
spoke  a  few  kind  words. to  me  when  I  made  my 
bow."  » 

During  the  last  few  days  of  August,  it  was  evident 
that  the  King  had  not  long  to  live,  and  Villele  gives 
the  following  account  of  his  condition  : 

"  The  King  could  no  longer  go  out.  He  was  con- 
fined to  his  sitting-room,  where  he  still  gave  audiences. 
He  had  no  longer  sufficient  strength  to  support  his 
head,  which,  being  unprotected,  fell  on  the  wood  of 
his  bureau.  His  attendants  had  in  vain  offered  him 
the  comfort  of  a  pillow ;  he  had  refused  it  curtly. 
However,  seeing  his  forehead  bruised  and  his  face 
bleeding,  I  ventured  to  beg  him  to  allow  me  to  have 
one    brought,   being   obliged   to   speak  to    him    about 

1  De  Boigne  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  107. 


37*  Louis  XVIII 

an  important  matter  for  which  it  was  necessary  that 
he  would  be  good  enough  to  give  me  his  orders,  which 
it  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  catch,  unless  his  head 
were  raised  higher.  He  made  a  sign  of  consent,  and 
allowed  a  pillow  to  be  placed  under  his  forehead,  so 
that  by  bending  it  was  easy  for  me  to  hear  him.  He 
answered  me  with  the  same  clearness  of  mind  and  sure- 
ness  of  memory  that  he  had  possessed  when  in  perfect 
health.  In  truth,  the  matter  had  to  do  with  Mon- 
sieur the  due  d'Orleans,  against  whom  he  was  as 
much  prejudiced  as  though  he  had  been  able  to  foresee 
the  fate  to  which  that  Prince  would  one  day  submit 
the  elder  branch.  Monsieur  the  due  d'Orl£ans  asked 
for  the  l  Cordon  bleu  '  for  his  son,  who  would  the 
next  day  be  fourteen  years  old  ;  he  made  his  request 
because  the  Princes  of  the  Blood  had  been  decorated 
with  it  at  this  age,  and  cited  the  example  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien  in  particular.  The  King  said  at  once 
to  me  in  the  most  positive  tone  :  {  You  will  tell  Mon- 
sieur the  due  d'Orleans  that  he  is  mistaken — that 
what  he  asks  for  is  only  due  at  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  that  I  will  never  do  more  for  him  than  what  is 
due.  The  example  he  cites  condemns  his  pretensions. 
The  Due  d'Enghien  was  born  the —  (he  told  me  the 
day  of  the  month  and  of  the  week)  ;  he  only  received 
the  Cordon  bleu  the —  (the  same  information),  exactly 
fifteen   years   after  his    birth.       Monsieur   the   due   de 

Chartres    will    only    receive    it    from    me    to-morrow 

'  "  i 
year. 

As  the  King's  health  failed,  the  Royal  Family  became 

most  anxious  that  his  confessor  should  be  summoned, 

but  no  one  dared  to  suggest  the  taking  of  this  step, 

for   though   the   King   had  a  confessor,  who   lived    in 

1   Villele  Memoires,  vol.  v.  p.  112. 


The  Dying  King  373 

a  small  back  room  at  the  Tuileries,  he  was  terribly- 
afraid  of  priestly  domination.  The  preceding  year 
he  had  asked  Dr.  Portal,  his  chief  physician,  what 
was  likely  to  be  the  manner  of  his  death,  and,  Portal 
answering  evasively,  the  King  had  said  : 

"  Do  not  treat  me  as  a  fool,  Portal.  I  know  very 
well  that  I  have  not  long  to  live,  and  I  know  that  I 
shall  suffer  much  at  the  last,  perhaps  more  than  at 
this  moment.  What  I  wish  to  know  is  whether  the 
final  crisis  will  take  place  in  unconsciousness,  or  whether 
I  shall  be  obliged  to  spend  several  days  in  agony." 

"  Why,  Sire,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  your  Majesty's 
illness  will  be  slow  and  gradual,  and  may  last  many 
years." 

"  Slow  and  gradual,"  said  the  King  with  some 
temper  ;  "  that  is  not  what  I  want  to  know.  There 
is  no  prospect  that  I  shall  be  found  dead  in  my  chair  ? ' 

"  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  likelihood  of  that." 

"  Then  it  will  be  impossible  to  keep  out  my  brother 
and  his  priests,"  growled  the  King  between  his 
teeth,  after  a  moment's  silence.  And  he  turned  the 
conversation.1 

The  ever  energetic  La  Rochefoucauld,  however, 
decided  that  something  must  be  done  to  prove  that 
the  King  had  died  in  the  true  flock,  and  after  con- 
sulting with  Monsieur,  he  took  advantage  of  his 
opportunities  of  entrance  to  the  King  to  implore  him 
once  more  to  see  Madame  du  Cayla,  to  whom  he  had 
wished  a  last  farewell.  At  first  the  King  objected,  saying 
that  he  feared  his  altered  appearance  would  shock  her  ; 
but  eventually  she  was  summoned  ;  and  after  a  long 
interview,  Louis  XVIII  made  a  last  sacrifice  of  his  will, 
and  consented  to  receive  his  confessor. 

1  De  Boigne  Memoires,  vol.  iii.  p.  no. 


374  Louis  XVIII 

Meanwhile,  one  person  at  least  was  from  afar  watching 
Louis  XVIIFs  agony  with  anguish.  On  September  1 5th, 
which  was  the  day  before  the  King's  death,  Decazes  wrote 
to  his  friend  Barante  :  "  You  know  my  feelings,  you 
will  guess  my  trouble  ;  it  will  last  all  my  life.  My 
heart  is  broken,  and  my  poor  being  is  hardly  less. 
Without  doubt  no  one  in  the  world  weeps  for  him 
or  will  weep  for  him  more,  or  will  weep  as  much.  .  .  . 
I  am  going  to  try  to  go  to  the  Tuileries.  I  do  not 
hope  to  see  the  King.  What  would  I  not  give  to  see 
him  once  again,  to  kiss  his  hand  for  the  last  time  ;  I 
would  joyfully  buy  his  blessing  with  ten  years  of  my 
life.  My  debt  was  too  great  for  me  to  think  I  had 
paid  it  towards  the  benefactor  who  deigned  to  give  me 
the  title  of  son  and  of  friend,  and  my  whole  life  will 
not  suffice  for  it,  but  it  shall  all  be  employed  in  it."  1 

Monsieur  knelt  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  and  all  the 
other  members  of  the  Royal  Family  were  present,  when 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  September  16th,  1 824, 
Louis  XVIII's  sufferings  at  last  came  to  an  end. 

The  Duchesse  d'Angouleme's  face  was  swollen  with 
weeping.  The  dissensions  of  later  growth  were  for- 
gotten, and  she  thought  only  of  the  fact  that  the 
dying  man  had  acted  as  a  father  to  her  during  the 
days  of  wandering  and  exile.  She  was  preparing  to 
follow  Monsieur  out  of  the  room,  when  she  suddenly 
remembered  that  the  Due  d'Angouleme,  as  son  of 
a  reigning  monarch,  must  now  take  precedence  of 
her,  and  she  drew  back,  and  in  a  voice  nearly  choked 
with  sobs  said,  "  Passez,  Monsieur  le  Dauphin." 

Louis  XVIII  was  buried  at  Saint-Denis  on  Septem- 
ber 23rd,  1824,  with  great  pomp  and  all  the  customary 
ceremonies. 

1  Souvenirs  dii  Baron  de  Baratitc,  vol.  iii.  p.  219. 


INDEX 


Abbeville,  252,  253 

Adelaide,  Madame,  10,  33,  137 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  91,   113 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Congress  of, 
311,  312,  313,  317,  320 

Alexander  I,  170,  172,  182, 
183,  195,  196,  208,  209,  222, 
260,  279,  280,  286,  289,  291, 
301 

Alsace,  242 

Amiens,  205 

Angles,  295 

Angouleme,  Due  d\  38,  137, 
138,  144,  145,  146,  148,  160, 
161,  176,  177,  180,  182,  184, 
186,  194,  195,  221,  222,  229, 
233,  242,  252,  271,  282,  283, 
310,  315,  322,  323,  325,  328, 

332,  336,  337.  363.  364.  374 
Angouleme,    Duchesse  d',    38, 
39,  62,  63,  78,  81,  126,  133, 

134.  ^S-  I38.  J39,  I4°»  I4I> 
142,  143,  144,  145,  146,  148, 

153.  157.  I59.  l6°.  161,  162, 
164,  166,  167,  170,  176,  177, 
182,  184,  193,  203,  212,  213, 
232,  252,  256,  283,  295,  299, 
303.  307.  3!<>.  323.  325.  328, 
332,  336.  348,  364.  368,  374 

Anhalt,  Prince  of,  60 

Anjou,  56 

Argenson,  M.  d\  281,  282 

Artois,  Comte  d',  9,  12,  15,  20, 
25,  26,  30,  34,  37,  38,  40,  45, 

47.  69.  75.  89,  92,  96,  97-  98. 
99,  108,  109,  no,  in,  112, 
113,  116,  117,  118,  120,  121, 
124,  135,  142,  144,  145,  146, 
157,  162,  172,  173,  174,  175, 


176,  177,  180,  181,  188,  197, 
198,  199,  200,  20I,  208,  211, 
221,  222,  242,  243,  244,  245, 
250.  255,  256,  258,  259,  27I, 
272,  273,  275,  279,  292,  293, 
295-   302,   303,   305,   309,   3IO, 

3">  313.  329.  33°.  336.  337. 
339,  353.  354.  356.  357.  358. 
359,  366,  370,  373,  374 
Artois,  Comtesse  d\  16,  35,  121, 
144,  146,  157,   174,   176,  182 
Assemblee  Constituante,  no 
Assemblee  Legislative,  no 
Avaray,  d',  72,  76,  82,  83,  84, 
85,  86,   87,  88,  89,  91,   100, 
101,  115,  122,  123,  128,  129, 
J30.  135,  139.  I52>  161,  163, 
164,  172,  173,  180,  184,  189, 
190,  247,  267,  277 
Azara,  Chevalier  d',  139 

Bagot,  186 

Bailli  de  Crussol,  201,  202 

Bailly,  65,  66,  68,  70 

Balbi,  Comte  de,  42,  43 

Balbi,  Madame  de,  41,  42,  43, 
44,  45,  49,  50,  76,  78,  80,  88, 
92,  99,  100,  101,  122,  123, 
124,  125,  158,  342 

Balzac,  229 

Barante,  M.  de,  225,  314,  335, 

345,  374 
Barras,  131,  155 

Barry,  du,  6,  12,  13,  14,  15,  31, 

35 

Bastille,  55 

Benevent,  Prince  de.  See  Tal- 
leyrand 

Bernadotte,  196 


375 


376 


Index 


Berry,  Due  de.     See  Louis  XVI 
Berry,  Due  de,  38, 144,  146,  157, 

174.  x75.  !94>  209.  229,  233, 
242,  250,  255,  271,  272,  275, 
279.  295,  303,  304,  305,  310, 
326,  331,  332,  333,  334,  335 
Berry,  Duchesse  de,  303,  331, 

332,  333.  347.  348,  364 

Berthier,  General,  155,  231,  253 

Bertin,  Madame,  98 

Bethune,  253 

Beugnot,  Comte,  201,  216,  217, 
218,  219,  237,  256,  267,  270, 
271,  273,  275.  277 

Beurnonville,  General,  240,  271 

Blacas,  Comte  de,  173,  188, 
202,  210,  216,  219,  242,  243, 
244,  246,  247,  250,  251,  253, 
254,  259,  262,  263,  266,  267, 
277,  278,  286,  294,  296,  306, 
307,  308,  351 

Blanckenburg,  130,  131,  133, 
143,  146,  148 

Blankenfeld,  180 

Blois,  26,  60 

Bliicher,  General,  275,  280 

Boigne,  Mme  de,  142,  213,  231, 

232,  283,  307,  310,  320,  348, 
368 

Boinville,  65 

Bonaparte.     See  Napoleon 
Bondi,  88 
Bonn,  91 

Bonnay,  Marquis  de,  144,  145 
Bonneuil,  Comtesse  de,  163 
Bordeaux,  26,  193,  194,  252 
Bordeaux,  Due  de,  347,  348 
Bourbon,  Due  de,  172,  203 
Bourbons,    3,    19,    36,    45,   90, 
132,  133.  167,  172,  192,  193, 
194,  200,  202,  204,  209,  225, 

233.  235,  236,  252,  260,  332, 

333>  348>  359.  3^3 
Bourget,  83 

Bourgoyne,  Due  de,  4,  7,  8,  11 

Bourmont,  245 

Breteuil,  Baron  de,  58,  90,  no, 

113 

Brienne,  Archbishop  of  Tou- 
louse, 58 

Brunoy,  28,  35,  36 


Brunswick,  Duke  of,  in,  113, 

114,  122 
Brunswick,  kingdom  of,  148 
Brussels,  89,  122,  265 
Buckingham,  Marquis  of,  186 
Budweiss,  157 

Calais,  205 

Calmar,  180,  181 

Calonne,  45,  46,  47,  48,  49,  50, 

96,  97-  98,  99 
Cambrai,  270 
Campan,  Madame,  15 
Cannes,  252 
Canning,  186 
Caraman,  164,  170,  362 
Carlsbad,  269 
Carlton  House,  203 
Carnot,  283 
Carrousel,  Place,  326 
Castries,  Due  de,  338 
Cateau-Cambresis,  269 
Catherine  II,  21,  108,  116,  117 
Caumont,  M.  de,  41,  42 
Cayenne,  131 
Cayla,  Madame  du,    339,    340, 

341,  342,  343,  344,  352,  357, 

358,  359.  361.  364.  365.  366, 

367,  368,  369,  373 
Cette,  252 
Chappe,  240,  241 
Charles,  Archduke,  135,  139 
Charter,  the,  211,  218,  219,  331 
Chateaubriand,   256,   264,   268, 

274.  304.  305.  308.  332,  360, 

361,  362,  363,  364,  365 
Chatelet,  70 

Chatenay,  Madame  de,  142 
Chatillon-sur-Seine,  193 
Chatre,  Comte    de    la,  49,  50, 

56,  67 
Chenier,  63 
Choiseul,  13,  14,  24 
Choisy,  28,  167 
Chouans,  225 
Clancarty,  Lord,  260 
Coblentz,  91,  98,  99,  102,   109, 

no,  112,  116,  129,  261,  262 
Code  Napoleon,  156 
Coetlosquet,  12 
Coke,  Lord,  125 


Index 


377 


Colchester,  187 

Compiegne,  205,  206 

Conde,  Prince  de,  69,  75,  116, 

124,  127,  128,  129,  130,  135, 

152,  157,  174,  175,  187,  203, 

228,  255 
Conti,  Prince  of,  9 
Corbiere,    345,    346,    351,    353, 

36i 
Council,  215 
Cour  des  Aides,  51 
Cour  des  Comptes,  51 
Courland,  149,  152,  166,  169 
Coussergues,  Clausel  de,  334 
Crequy,  Madame  de,  21 

Dambray,  216,  218,  220,  256, 
271 

Dandre,  246 

Dauphin,  son  of  Louis  XV,  4, 
5-12 

Dauphin.     See  Louis  XVI 

Dauphin,  eldest  son  of  Louis 
XVI,  40 

Dauphin,  second  son  of  Louis 
XVI.     See  Louis  XVII 

Dauphine,  Marie  Josephine  de 
Saxe,  daughter-in-law  of 
Louis  XV,  4,  5,  11 

Dauphine.  See  Marie  An- 
toinette 

Davoust,  Marechal,  272 

Decazes,  Comte  and  Due  de, 
277,  278,  280,  283,  286,  294, 
295,  296,  299,  300,  301,  302, 

304.  305.  3°6-  3o8>  3*3.  3J4- 
315,  316,  317,  318,  319,  320, 

321,  322,  323,  324,  325,  327, 
329.  330.  331.  332,  333.  334- 
335.  336,  337-  33§>  340,  342, 
344.  345-  347-  351-  352,  360, 
369.  370.  374 
Decazes,  Madame,  294,  316,325, 

326,  351 
Declaration,  117 

Deputies,  Chamber  of,  220,  221, 
281,  299,  300,  301,  302,  306, 

327.  334.  335-  34s 
Dessoles,  319,  321,  329,  330 
Dieppe,  254 

Dillingen,  130 


Doctrinaires,  314 

Dole,  236 

Doudeauville,  Due  de,  364,  366 

Dubarry,  1 

Dumouriez,  114,  119,  155,  164 

Dunkirk,  255 

Dupont,  216 

Duras,  Due  de,  232,  250 

Duras,  Madame  de,  320 

Economists,  23 

Edgeworth,  de  Firmon,  l'Abbe, 

143,  166,  167,  172 
Elba,  194 
Elizabeth,  Madame,  61,  63,  81, 

86,  107,  237 
Emigres,  91,  93,  106,  107,  108, 

no,  114,  117,  130,  135,  183, 

188,  227,  228,  234,  262,  286, 

354.  364 
Enghien,  Due  d',  175,  251,  372 

Favras,  Thomas  de  Mahy, 
Marquis  de,  60,  61,  62,  63, 
64,  65,  66,  67,  69,  70,  71,  72, 

73.  74 
Feltre,  Due  de,   217,  248,   256, 

257,  266,  271 
Ferrand,  220,  224 
Ferronays,   Comte   de  la,    152, 

362 
Fersen,  General,  152,  163,  164, 

165,  166,  169 
Finistere,  315 

Fitzgerald,  Lord  Robert,  80 
Fleury,  Due  de,  130,  167 
Fontainebleau,  194,  303 
Fouche,  237,  242,  246,  259,  272, 

273,  274,  275,  277,  278,  283. 

284,  286,  297,  360 
Fox,  329 
Fragonard,  16 
Franche-Comte,  245 
Francis  II,   in,  113,  134,  137, 

138,  139,  140,  141,  157,  280 
Frayssinous,    Bishop    of    Her- 

mopolis,  362 
Frederick     William,     King     of 

Prussia,   108,   109,   113,   114, 

170,  177,  180,  181 
Frenilly,  228 


378 


Index 


Gaillard,  259 

George  III,  184,  185 

George  IV.     See  Regent 

Gesvres,  Due  de,  5 

Ghent,  255,  256,  257,  258,  259, 

260,  261,  262,  264,  273 
Gosneld,  187 
Gourbillon,  Madame  de,  77,  89, 

I58.  x59,  161,  163 
Grande  Mademoiselle,  28 
Granvelle,  Lord,  329 
Gregoire,  329,  330 
Grey,  Lord,  329 
Guiche,  Due  de,  130,  142 
Guizot,  262,  263,  314,  345,  361 
Gustavus    III,    24,  38,  39,  91, 

in 
Gustavus  IV,  183,  189 

Hamburg,  154 

Hamm,  116,  118,  120,  121 

Hane,  Hotel  de  Steenhuyse,  255 

Hapsburg,  36 

Hartwell,   188,    191,    193,    197, 

202,  324 
Havre,  Due  d',  307 
Hoche,  131 

Holyrood,  175,  177,  184,  185 
H6tel-de-Ville,  4,  51,  70,  73,  74 

Imperial  Guard,  Old,  213 
Isle,   Comte  de  1'.     See  Louis 
XVIII 

Jacobin,  2,  117,  147,  230,  313, 

314 
Jarjayes,  118 

Jaucourt,  97,  99,  251,  256,  262, 

271 

Jena,  Bridge  of,  280 

Joly,  119 

Jordan,  Camille,  345 

Josephine,    wife   of    Napoleon, 

155 

Josephine     Louise    of    Savoy. 

See  Madame 
Journal  des  Savants,  22 

Kiel,  164 
Kiew,  182 
Kustrin,  151 


Labedoyere,  297,  298 
Lafayette,   64,  65,  70,   71,  77, 

346 
La    Force,     Anne    Jacobe    de 

Caumon.    See  Balbi,  Madame 

de 
La  Force,  Due  de,  44 
Laine,  301,  302,  315 
Lameth,  Theodore  de,  49 
Languedoc,  242 
Laon,  80 
Lavalette,  298 
Lavalette,  Madame  de,  298 
Lavalette,  Mile  de,  299 
Lavauguyon,   10 
Laybach,  Congress  of,  349 
Le  Due,  l'Abbe,  70 
Leith,  184 
Le  Maine,  119 
Lemontey,  323 
Leopold  II,  89,  108,  109,  in 
Levis,  Due  de,  59,  66,  73,  82 
Liancourt  Rochefoucauld,  Due 

de,  202 
Liege,  91,  116 
Lieutard,  M.,  369 
Lille,  204,  235,  251,  253 
LTsle,    Comte   de.     See   Louis 

XVIII 
Lomenie  de  Brienne,  50 
Longuyon,  115 
Longwy,  114 
Lorraine,  Duke  of,  9 
Lorraine,  province  of,  242 
Louis  XIV,  28,  288,  323,  341 
Louis  XV,  4,  6,  11,  15,  17,  23, 

3L  32.  33 
Louis  XVI,  4,  7,  10,  11,  13,  17, 
18,  20,  23,  24,  25,  30,  32,  33, 

34.  35.  36,  37.  42,  45.  48.  49. 
50,  51,  52,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57, 
58,  59.  63,  70,  71,  75,  81,  88, 
89,  90,  91,  104,  105,  106,  107, 
108,  109,  no,  in,  115,  116, 
117,  125,  126,  134,  135,  137, 
185,  186,  200,  205,  237,  329 

Louis  XVII,  40,  55,  63,  116, 
117,  125,  205 

Louis  XVIII,  1  ;  calumnies,  2  ; 
character,  birth,  8  ;  first 
public   appearance,   9  ;  bap- 


Index 


379 


tism,     ii  ;      orphaned,     14; 
marriage,  17  ;    becomes  heir- 
presumptive,     18  ;      appear- 
ance,    20 ;      character,     21  ; 
visit       to       Voltaire,       22  ; 
writings,  23  ;   political  views, 
26  ;    tour,  28  ;    abodes,  32  ; 
letters  to  Louis  XV,  quarrel 
with   Louis    XVI,    abuse    of 
Marie  Antoinette,  33  ;  print- 
ing-press inspected,  34  ;  fete, 
35,   36  ;    letter  to  Gustavus 
III,   at  baptism  of  Madame 
Royale,  39  ;  falls  in  love,  41 ; 
at  head  of  bureau,  46  ;  takes 
popular  side,  47  ;  disrespect 
to   King,   50  ;     sent  to  Cour 
des    Comptes,    51  ;      praises 
Necker,  52  ;    interview  with 
La   Marck,   57  ;    treaty   and 
intimacy   with    Necker,    59  ; 
dealings    with    Favras,    63  ; 
accounts  of  his  demeanour, 
65  ;   speech  in  H6tel-de-Ville, 
67  ;      his     complicity     with 
Favras,   71,   72,   73  ;     retires 
from  politics,    74 ;    thinks  of 
flight,  75  ;    deputation  visits 
him,    77  ;     preparations    for 
flight,  79,  80  ;    farewells,  81  ; 
escape,  82  ;    the  journey,  84, 
85,  86  ;   arrival  at  Mons,  87  ; 
goes    to    Brussels,    89  ;     full 
of     business,     90  ;    goes     to 
Liege,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Cob- 
lentz,  91  ;   lodging  there,  92  ; 
unpopularity,     93,     94,     98  ; 
his  military  house,  94  ;    his 
undeveloped    character,    97  ; 
appearance  at  fetes,  98  ;    at 
Madame     de     Balbi's,    100  ; 
takes  d'Avaray's  part,   101  ; 
not  an  Emigre  proper,  102  ; 
political  views,  103,  104,  107  ; 
joke,   104  ;    deplorable  posi- 
tion,   109,    no  ;     refuses    to 
leave   Treves,    in  ;  military 
preparations,    112  ;     present 
at     Emperor's      Coronation, 
113  ;    with    the    Army,    114, 
115  ;     Coblentz,    Liege,    and 


Hamm,  116;  takes  title  of 
Regent  and  issues  Anti-re- 
volutionary Declaration,  117; 
receives  tokens  from  Temple, 
118  ;  letter  on  Jarjayes, 
118,  119  ;  goes  to  Verona, 
121  ;  is  told  of  Madame 
de  Balbi's  treachery,  123  ; 
letter  to  Madame  about  it, 

124  ;    assumes  title  of  King, 

125  ;     has  to  leave   Verona, 

127  ;     visits    Conde's    army, 

128  ;  driven  from  there,  129  ; 
attempted  assassination  at 
Dillingen,  130 ;  Blancken- 
burg,  131  ;  hopefulness,  132  ; 
writes  to  Madame  Royale, 
133  ;  idea  of  marrying  her  to 
Due  d'Angouleme,  135  ;  let- 
ters and  anxiety  about  this, 
136,  137,  139,  140,  141,  143, 
144  ;  political  talk  with  Due 
d'Angouleme,  146,  147  ;  is 
forced  to  leave  Blancken- 
burg,  148,  149  ;  journey  to 
Mittau,  150,  151  ;  life  there, 
152, 153,  154  ;  character,  153  ; 
political  schemes,  and  letter 
to  Bonaparte,  155  ;  hears  of 
possibility  of  Madame  Roy- 
ale's  marriage,  157  ;  objects  to 
Madame  de  Gourbillon,  158  ; 
Queen's  arrival,  159;  anxiety 
about  Madame  Royale,  160  ; 
her  arrival,  161  ;  is  re- 
conciled to  Due  d'Orleans, 
troubles  with  Comte  d'Artois, 
162  ;  is  turned  out  of  Mittau, 
163,  164,  165,  166,  167 ; 
painful  journey,  167,  168  ; 
letters  about  it,  169,  170 ; 
goes  to  Warsaw,  170  ;  life 
there,  171  ;  monetary  diffi- 
culties, 172  ;  sends  Blacas 
to  St.  Petersburg,  173  ;  an- 
xieties with  Due  de  Berry, 
letter  to  him,  174,  175,  176  ; 
threatened  with  separation 
from  Due  and  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme,  176,  177  ; 
Bonaparte     wishes     him     to 


38o 


Index 


resign  rights,  his  Declaration, 
177,  178  ;  circular  letter  on 
Bonaparte  becoming  Em- 
peror, 179  ;  goes  to  Sweden, 
180 ;  liberal  Declaration, 
181  ;  returns  to  Mittau,  180  ; 
second  visit  to  Sweden,  183  ; 
off  shores  of  England,  184  ; 
letter  to  George  III,  185  ;  dis- 
cussions, 186  ;  landing  and 
journey  to  Gosfield,  186,  187  ; 
Hartwell,  188 ;  Queen's 
death,  189  ;  d'Avaray's 
death,  190  ;  liberal  mani- 
festo, 193  ;  Bordeaux  Depu- 
ties, 193  ;  gout  keeps  the  King 
at  Hartwell,  197  ;  no  confi- 
dence in  Artois,  200  ;  news  of 
formal  recall,  202  ;  journey 
through  London,  203  ;  cross- 
ing, 204  ;  Amiens  and  Com- 
piegne,  205  ;  interviews  Tal- 
leyrand, 207  ;  Comte  d'Ar- 
tois,  208  ;  Czar  and  Corps 
Legislatif,  209  ;  Declaration 
of  Saint-Ouen,  210,  211  ; 
entry  into  Paris,  211,  212, 
213,  214  ;  Councils,  215  ; 
works  with  Ministers,  217  ; 
politeness,  218  ;  names  Com- 
mission for  Charter,  219 ; 
reads  Charter,  223  ;  annoyed 
by  Ultra  requests,  227  ;  audi- 
ences, 232  ;  composure  at 
military  disturbances,  234  ; 
bravery  at  Plot,  237  ;  foreign 
policy,  238,  239  ;  hears  of 
Napoleon's  landing,  241  ;  in- 
terview with  Due  d'Orleans, 
243  ;  reviews  troops,  244  ; 
hears  of  Ney's  defection, 
245  ;  passivity,  248  ;  trouble, 
249 ;  Royal  seance,  249, 
250  ;  flight,  250  ;  arrival  at 
Abbeville,  252,  Saint-Pol, 
Bethune,  Lille,  253  ;  im- 
patience, 254  ;  Menin  and 
Ghent,  255  ;  life  there,  256, 
257  ;  learning  a  lesson,  258  ; 
letters  from  Talleyrand  and 
Due    d'Orleans,    261  ;    inter- 


view with  Guizot,  262,  263  ; 
calmness,  264  ;  agitation  at 
news  of  Waterloo,  265;  ar- 
rival at  Mons,  parting  with 
Blacas,  266,  267  ;  interview 
with  Talleyrand,  268,  269  ; 
Declaration  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis,  269 ;  Proclama- 
tion of  Cambrai,  270,  271, 
272  ;  emotion  at  Fouche's 
appointment,  273,  274  ; 
second  entry  into  Paris,  275  ; 
distress  at  Allies,  275  ;  will 
govern  constitutionally,  276  ; 
first  interview  with  Decazes, 
278  ;  troubles,  279  ;  Bridge 
of  Jena,  280  ;  dismisses 
Fouche,  284  ;  dismisses  Tal- 
leyrand, 285  ;  chooses  Due 
de  Richelieu,  286  ;  firmness 
of  foreign  policy,  288  ;  letter 
to  Czar,  289  ;  anguish  at 
treaty,  291  ;  isolation  in 
family,  293,  310;  attachment 
for  Decazes,  294,  letter  to 
him,  295  ;  excuses  Ney,  297  ; 
wishes  to  save  Lavalette, 
299  ;      afraid     of    Monsieur, 

301  ;   dissolves  the  Chamber, 

302  ;  indignation  at  Cha- 
teaubriand's pamphlet,  304  ; 
grief  at  Due  de  Berry's 
attitude,  305  ;  receives 
Blacas,  306,  307  ;  embar- 
rassed by  him,  308  ;  indigna- 
tion with  Monsieur,  309  ; 
Monsieur  deprived  of 
Colonelship,  311  ;  joy  at 
freedom  of  France,  313  ; 
views  of  situation,  314,  315  ; 
injured  with  Richelieu,  316  ; 
indignation  with  Mole,  317  ; 
trouble  at  crisis,  318,  319  ; 
does  not  like  new  Cabinet, 
321,  322  ;  on  his  ancestors, 
323  ;  interview  with  Ma- 
dame, 324  ;  wishes  to  be 
sponsor  to  Decazes's  baby, 
325  ;  kindness  to  Madame 
Decazes,  325,  326 ;  anger 
with   Ultras,   327 ;   King  on 


Index 


381 


England,  329 ;  his  misgiv- 
ings, 330  ;  news  of  Due  de 
Berry'sdeath:  scene  at  death- 
bed,' 333,  334;  draconian 
measures,  334  ;  King  at 
Council,  335  ;  exciting  scene, 
336 ;  determination,  337  ; 
visit  from  Madame  du  Cay  la, 
340  ;  second  interview,  342  ; 
growing  affection  for  Madame 
du  Cayla,  343,  344  ;  is  re- 
conciled to  Monsieur,  345  ;  at 
birth  of  Duke  of  Bordeaux, 
347  ;  King  on  Royalist 
majority,  349  ;  confesses 
Duchesse  de  Berry's  dupli- 
city, 350  ;  refuses  to  see 
Decazes,  351,  352  ;  generosity 
on  Napoleon's  death,  353  ; 
indignation  with  Ultras,  355  ; 
receives  Richelieu's  resigna- 
tion, King  on  Monsieur  and 
Due  d'Orleans,  358  ;  his 
indifference,  359  ;  King's 
good  sense,  363  ;  his  dislike 
for  Chateaubriand,  364,  365  ; 

5  failing  health,  366  ;  presents 
Saint-Ouen  to  Madame  du 
Cayla,  367  ;  King  at  Saint- 
Ouen,    368  ;     he    remembers 

-  Decazes,  369 ;  failing  health, 
370,  371  ;  his  fortitude,  372  ; 
will  receive  confessor,    373  ; 
.     his  death,  374 

Louis,    Baron,    216,    218,    256, 
262,  277,  321,  327,  329,  330 

Louise,  Madame,  10 

Louise,  Queen  of  Prussia,   170 

Louvel,    332 

Luxembourg    Palace,    28,    44, 
48,  51,  60,  77,  79,  82,  83 

Luxembourg  town,   88,   122 

Luynes,  Due  de,  7,  8 

Lyons,  120,  121,  242,  243,  245, 

255 

Macartney,  Lord,  125,  126 
Macchi,  Monseigneur,  369 
Macdonald,  Marechal,  242,  243, 

251,  252,  253,  254,  255 
Madame,  wife  of  Louis  XVIII, 


14,  15,  16,  28,  34,  35,  36,  37, 
42,  43,  76,  77,  92,  121,  122, 
144,  150,  153,  157,  158,  159, 
160,  161,  164,  165,  189,  190, 

34° 
Madame  Royale.     See  Angou- 

leme,  Duchesse  d' 
Madeira,  91,  189 
Maillard,  61 
Maison,  General,  204 
Maison  Civile,  King's,  226,  286, 

366 
Maison  Militaire,   King's,   226, 

234,  253,  254,  259,  262 
Maisonfort,  210 
Malouet,  216 
Marck,   Comte    de    la,   54,   55, 

56>  57>  72 
Marck,  Madame  de  la,  26 

Marie   Antoinette,    12,    14,    15, 

16,  25,  26,  28,  29,  30,  31,  32, 

33-  34.  35.  36,  37.  38,  39. 
42,  49,  50,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57, 
58,  62,  63,  69,  71,  75,  78,  79, 
81,  88,  89,  103,  104,  105,  106, 
107,  108,  109,  in,  118,  121, 
137,  212,  237 

Marie  Christine,  Archduchess, 
89 

Marie  Leczinska,  Queen  of 
France,   10,   11 

Marie  Therese,  13,  30,  31 

Marly,  26 

Marmont,  Marechal,  237,  247 

Marquier,  64 

Marsan,  Madame  de,  7,  8 

Marsan,  Pavilion,  233,  258,  350 

Marseilles,   281 

Maubeuge,  80 

Maurepas,  5,  24 

Maximilian,  Archduke,  36 

Mayence,    113 

Meilleraye,  Comtesse  de.  See 
Angouleme,  Duchesse  d' 

Memel,  167,  169,  170 

Mercy  Argenteau,  31,  37 

Metternich,  Prince,  259,  266 

Mirabeau,  Gabriel  Honore 
Riquetti  de,  54,  55,  56,  57, 
58,  59,  60,  65,  66,  71,  72,  74 

Mittau,  149,  150,  151,  152,  153, 


382 


Index 


154,  157,  160,  161,  163,  165, 
166,  167,  182,  184,  185 

Modene,  Comte  de,  14 

Mole,  317,  327 

Monaco,   Princesse  de,   99 

Monarchiens,  117,  146 

Money,  Marechal,  204 

Mons,  80,  87,  268,  269,  270 

Monsieur.     See  Louis   XVIII 

Montcarmel,  17 

Montesquiou,  Abbe  de,  216, 
219,  220,  256 

Montgaillard,  27 

Montmorency,  362 

Montpellier,  26 

Moreau,   131 

Morel,  63,  64,  69 

Moriolles,  Comte  de,  115 

Morris,  64 

Mortier,  General,  253 

Moscow,   192 

Namur,  88,  122 

Naples,  King  of,  175,  349 

Naples,  Queen  of,   144 

Napoleon,  2,  120,  131,  155,  163, 
172,  177,  182,  183,  184,  185, 
192,  193,  202,  206,  210,  216, 
227,  231,  233,  236,  237,  238, 
241,  244,  245,  252,  253,  254, 
255.  258,  259,  266,  279,  283, 
291,  297,  353,  360 

Narbonne,  Archbishop  of,  9 

Navarre,  Henry  of,  347 

Necker,  23,  45,  50,  52,  70 

Nesselrode,  195,  266,  282,  292 

Neuilly,  Comte  de,  99 

Ney,  Marechal,  231,  245,  297, 
298,  300 

Niemen,   151 

Nimes,  26,  281 

Normandie,  Due  de.  See 
Louis  XVII 

Normandy,  56 

North,  Lord,  329 

Notables,  Assembly  of,  46,  47, 
48,  49,  50,  51,  53,  68,  96 

Notre-Dame,  5,  213 

Odessa,  354 
(Eil-de-Boeuf,  1',  62 


Orange,  Prince  of,  255 

Orchies,  80 

Orleans,  26 

Orleans,  Gaston  d\  18 

Orleans,  Louis  Philippe,  Due  d\ 
162,  182,  186,  227,  228,  242, 
243,  244,  245,  249,  250,  253, 
254,  255,  260,  261,  267,  332, 

372 
Orleans,  Philippe  Egalite,  Due 

d\  34-  54.  57.  72,  162 
Otrante,  Due  d\     See  Fouche 

Panin,  150 

Parc-aux-Cerfs,  1 

Paris,  Treaty  of,  222,  238,  290 

Parlement  of  Paris,  51 

Pasquier,    321,    346,    347,    352, 

356 

Paul  I,  148,  151,  163,  164,  165, 
171,  172 

Peers,  Chamber  of,  220,  221 

Perigord,  Comte  Archambaud 
de,   122 

Peronnet,  83 

Pichegru,  155 

Pilnitz  Conference  and  Pro- 
mulgation, 108,  109 

Pitt,  329 

Pius  VII,  174 

Place  d'Armes,  5 

Poitou,   119 

Poix,  M.  de,  231 

Poland,  King  of,  9 

Polastron,  Madame  de,  99,  146, 
174,  180 

Pompadour,  1,  6,  11,  12,  13 

Pont-Neuf,  83,  213 

Pont-Royale,  275 

Portal,  Dr.,  373 

Porte  Saint-Martin,  83 

Pozzo  di  Borgo,  209,  256,  266, 
270,  276,  282,  289,  291,  292, 

348 
Prince  of  Wales.     See  Regent 
Princeteau,  Madame,  294,  321 
Provence,      Comte      de.       See 

Louis  XVIII 
Provence,    Comtesse    de.     See 

Madame 
Puisaye,  120,  126 


Index 


383 


Quatre-Bras,  264 

Queen.     See  Marie  Antoinette 

Queen     Josephine     Louise     of 

Savoy.     See   Madame 
Quiberon,  120 

Rambouillet,  62 

Rapp,  353 

Regent,  186,  203 

Reiset,  Vicomte  de,  44 

Richelieu,  Ducde,  286,  289,  291, 

299,  300,  302,  306,  307,  308, 

312,  313,  314,  315,  316,  317, 

3l8>  319,  320,  330,  337,  339, 

345.  34°.  353.  354»  358,  359 
Riegel,  128,  129,  151 

Rivarol,  61,  73 

Rochefoucauld,  Comte  de  la, 
340,  341,  342,  343,  344,  345, 
358>  361.  362,  364,  365,  366, 
367.  368,  369,  370,  373 

Robespierre,  237 

Rostopchine,   164 

Royer-Collard,  262,  345 

Saint-Aulaire,  Comte  de,  317 
Saint-Aulaire,Mlle.  See  Madame 

Decazes 
Saint-Cloud,  62 
Saint-Cyr,   Marechal    Gouvion, 

277>  309.  321.  322,  329,  330 
Saint-Denis,     Faubourg,     275, 

374  , 
Saint-Etienne,  236 
Saint-George,  349 
Saint-Germain,  Faubourg,  229, 

230,  299 
Saint-Gothard,  128 
Saint-Helena,  353 
Saint-Lazare,  17 
Saint-Ouen,     Declaration      of, 

210,  2li,  367,  368,  369 
Saint-Pol,  253 
Saint-Priest,  62,  126,  131,  150, 

152 
Sardinia,  King  of,  122,  146 
Sardinia,  Queen  of,  157 
Sarthe,  La,  315 
Sartorius,  63,  67 
Sayer,  80,  83 
Schaumel,  63,  67 


Schonbornlust,  Chateau  of,  92, 

96.  99 
Serent,  Duchesse  de,  167 
Serre,  321 
Sevres,  62 
Soissons,  80,  87 
Soreze,  27 

Soucy,  Madame  de,  137 
Soult,  Marechal,  246,  248 
States  General,  50,  51,  52,  53 
Strasburg,  236 

Talleyrand,  195,  196,  197,  198, 
202,  207,  208,  211,  216,  220, 
222,  238,  239,  244,  251,  256 
260,  261,  262,  266,  267,  268, 
269,  270,  271,  272,  273,  274, 
277,  278,  284,  285,  286,  287, 
288,  289,  306,  308,  318,  354, 
360 

Talon,  71,  339 

Tartu  fie,  32 

Temple,   107,   118,   127 

Tiers-Etat,  47 

Tilsit,  Peace  of,  183 

Toulon,  120 

Tours,  26 

Tourzel,  Madame  de,  133,   136, 

J37 
Trafalgar,  battle  of,  227 

Treport,  254 

Treves,  Elector  of,  92,  93,  98, 

no,  III 
Troppau,  Congress  of,  349 
Troyes,  51 
Tuileries,    55,    57,    75,    78,    81, 

275,     281,     308,     334,     335, 

337 
Turcaty,  61,  63,  64,  70 

Turgot,  23,  24,  45 

Ultra-Royalists,  2,  117,  229, 
230,  263,  277,  292,  297,  298, 
299,  300,  301,  302,  304,  308, 
315,  316,  317,  318,  319,  320, 
326,  328,  330,  334,  335,  350, 

351.  353.  354-  355.  358 

Valentinois,  Madame  de,  14 
Valmy,  battle  of,  114 
Valvons,  Marquis  de,  10 


384 


Index 


Varennes,  88,  90 
Vauguyon,  12,  14,  31,  128 
Vendee,    Vendeans,    119,    120, 

126,  225,  315 
Verac,  Comte  de,  100 
Verdun,  114 
Verona,  121,  122,  127,  128,  139, 

!73 

Verona,  Congress  of,  362 

Victoire,  Madame,  10,  137 
Vienna,    136,     137,     138,     144, 

268 
Vienna,  Congress  of,  222,  238, 

239,  259,  268 
Villele,  345,  346,  354,  355,  357, 

358>  36l»  362,  363,  364,  365, 

366,  370,  371 
Vitrolles,    199,    208,    210,    215, 


219,  227,  240,  241,  248,  272, 
277,  278,  285,  308,  311,  335 
Voltaire,  21 

Wagram  Hotel,  280 

Wales,  Prince  of.     See  Regent 

Wanstead  House,  187 

Warsaw,  170,  171,  181 

Waterloo,  battle  of,  265 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  195,  234, 
265,  266,  267,  269,  270,  273, 
275,  276,  280,  282,  292,  293, 
298,  301 

Westphalia,  148 

Wickham,  Mr.,  129 

Willot,  155 

Yarmouth,  184,  186 


Printed  by  Hazell,  Watson  <S=  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


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